My Clumsy Love Story
by Plains-Of-White
Summary: Plagued with misfortune and bad luck, Lucy Heartfilia felt like she could never live a normal life with others. But a ray of hope comes in the form of her childhood friend and secret crush Natsu Dragneel. AU Trigger Warning: PTSD, mental abuse, stalking, character death
1. Chapter 1

She was in love with him.

Without a doubt.

She loved Natsu Dragneel with every fiber of her being.

How did a girl like Lucy Heartfilia, the smart, sweet, and quiet girl end up in love with the dense, childish, loud Natsu you ask?

It started back in second grade when Lucy was seven. Lucy had always been a clumsy kid and would get hurt in the strangest ways. It was lunch time and she was walking through the play ground heading for the play set when a kick ball hit her in the head. When she woke up there was a strange pink haired boy leaning over her. He was an upperclassmen in fourth grade and was ten years old. He apologized and took her to the nurse.

After that it seemed as if he forgot about her. But two weeks later, Lucy was walking home when a guy on a skate board ran into her and ended up twisting her ankle. She looked up surprised to see Natsu with a helmet and pads on. He carried her home and bought her ice cream the next day after school as an apology.

Every time Lucy was hurt, without fail, Natsu would be there to help her. It happened so often that he ended up practically glued to her, protecting her from whatever came.

 _Ding Dong_

The repeating sound of the doorbell snapped Lucy of her thoughts. She got up from her dining table and ran to the door.

"Yo Luce!" Natsu greeted as she opened the door.

"Hi Natsu." Lucy yawned, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

"Well don't you look terrible." He joked. Lucy shot him a glare and walked back to the dinning table, closely followed by Natsu.

"You got any food?" The pink-haired boy asked.

"There's left over chicken pasta if ya want." Lucy told him as she sat back down at the table. She looked at the mess of papers in front of her and groaned. She woke up early so she could finish her homework but barely wrote a word. Lucy slammed her head on the table and groaned loudly. Natsu looked at her weirdly as he stuffed his face with pasta.

"Didn't finish your homework?" Natsu asked. Lucy nodded her head and lifted it of the table.

"Sorry, I guess the mall will have to wait." Lucy apologized but Natsu just waved her off.

"Nah, it's not going anywhere. Besides it's only ten, we have plenty of time." He reassured her. Lucy looked up at him and smiled. She murmured a quiet 'thanks' then got to work while Natsu played on her laptop. One hour later Lucy stretched and gave out a sigh of relief. She finished her summer book report and only had her history project left. She and Natsu went to Fairy Academy which was a unified middle school and high school, and also gave homework over summer break.

"Well I think that's enough for now." Lucy told herself and stood up. "I'm gonna get dressed I'll be back in ten." Lucy called as she walked to her room.

"Kay." Natsu called back as he roamed the internet. Lucy opened up he drawers and grabbed a pair of yoga pants and a pink football jersey that had her last name on the back with the number 3 on it. It was her birthday present from Natsu last year. When she asked about the number he said it was because of how old they were when they first met. Ten minus seven was three. It was her favorite shirt.

Lucy shoved on a pair of black converse and went to the bathroom to brush her teeth and comb her waist length hair. She decided to leave it down and turned of the lights to her bathroom .

"Okay let go." Lucy said as she walked to the kitchen counter to grab her apartment keys.

"Thought the time would never come!" Natsu smirked as she lightly whacked him in the head.

"Oh shut up." Lucy tried to fake being mad but failed miserably as she started to laugh. Natsu followed her out the door to his car, which was a black 2000 Audi he got from his dad for his sixteenth birthday.

Before Natsu even took a step near his car, he shoved five motion sickness pills down his throat and chugged a bottle of water.

"Okay!" Natsu sighed. "Let's go!" The two hopped in the car and drove off to the mall. On the way they chit chat about little things to pass the time. Natsu did most of the talking as Lucy just liked to listen rather than talk.

As Natsu pulled up to the malls parking lot he hopped out of the car with no problems. Lucy however got her leg stuck in her seat belt and fell out of the car and fell face first on the blacktop with a shriek. Natsu ran over to Lucy and helped her up and untangled her leg.

"Clumsy as ever I see." Natsu grinned.

"It was the seatbelt's fault!" Lucy pouted. He let out a laugh and grabbed her arm, pulling her to the mall entrance.

"Come on let's go!" Natsu shouted as he practically dragged her through the mall. They ran up to their favorite shop, Game Stop. They browsed through the different aisles, looking at all the different games for their own counsels. Natsu owned a Xbox Live, Wii U and a PS4, while Lucy owned a regular old Wii and a PS3. They continued to browse through the store, each looking for a specific game when their favorite song came on.

 **Put on your war paint**

Natsu and Lucy immediately stopped what they were doing and looked at each other.

 **You are a brick tied to me that's dragging me down**

 **Strike a match and I'll burn you to the ground**

They began to dance and sing along, game searching forgotten.

 **We are Jack-o-lanterns in July, setting fire to the sky**

 **Here, here comes this rising tide, so come on**

The people in the shop started to give the friends weird looks.

 **Put on your paint**

Natsu started to chase Lucy around the store as they both continued to sing, not caring if they sounded bad.

 **Cross walks crossed hearts and hope-to-dies**

 **Grey clouds with silver linings**

 **So we can take the world back from a heart attack**

 **One maniac at a time we will take it back**

 **You know time crawls on while your waiting for the song to start**

 **So dance alone to the beat of your heart**

Natsu and Lucy stopped running and jumped up and down and danced sloppily. Causing the people around them to laugh and take out their phones to take a video.

 **Hey young, blood doesn't it feel like our time is running out?**

 **I'm gonna change you like a remix**

 **Then I'll raise you like a phoenix**

 **Wearing our vintage misery**

 **No, I think it looked a little better on me**

 **I'm gonna change you like a remix**

 **Then I'll raise you like a phoenix**

"Natsu?" A voice called the two looked over to where the voice came from, but didn't stop jumping.

 **Bring home the boys and scrap scrap metal the tanks**

 **Get hitched, make career out of robbing banks**

A white-haired girl with sparkling blue eyes stared at them and Lucy could have sworn she was glaring.

"Hey Lisanna!" Natsu called still dancing. "Why don't you join us?" Natsu waved at her to come over.

 **Because the world is just a teller and we are wearing black masks**

"I'll pass." She scrunched her nose. "Can I talk to you for a minute?" Lisanna asked.

Natsu stopped danced and asked back, "can't it wait?" Lisanna shook her head and dragged him out of the store.

"I'll be back in a sec!" Natsu called at Lucy as he was dragged off.

"Kay!" Lucy shouted back and continued to jump up and down as she sang to herself and looked at the games.

Lisanna had been dating Natsu for a year and didn't approve of her boyfriend having a girl for a best friend. Even though he was dating someone Lucy continued to love him. Even if it hurt, if Natsu was happy with her, then she was happy.

The song ended and Lucy stopped dancing and sat down to catch her breath. She looked through the bottom row when she saw what she had come here for.

"Sims 4!" Lucy cried out. She already owned Sims 1 2 and 3 and this was the only one she needed. She discovered Sims about five months ago and worked her but off to buy all of them, since she lived alone.

Natsu and Lisanna came back in the shop and Lucy ran over to him.

"Natsu look! It's the game I was looking for!" Lucy squealed.

"Nice, now if I could only I could mortal combat x." Natsu through his hands up in the air.

"Umm, in was on the stand when we walked in..." Lucy's sweat dropped.

"Really?!" Natsu yelled excitedly and ran for the door. Lucy was about to follow him when Lisanna stepped in her way.

"Listen here bitch," She hissed. "Stay away from Natsu." She then twirled on her heel and followed after Natsu. Just because Lucy wants Natsu to be happy doesn't mean she has to like his girlfriend.

Lucy sighed and walked to the cash register with Natsu and Lisanna.

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Well hello! This is ma story...yep... well I hope you enjoyed it and please leave a review before ya go. I'd love some back up comments. Till next time!

Favorite, Follow, Review~


	2. Chapter 2

Lucy, Natsu and Lisanna walked through the hallways of the mall, occasionally stopping in a shop so Lisanna could get clothes, jewelry and other things like that. With Natsu paying for it of course.

They had originally only came here to visit the game shop to get the games they were looking for and grab a bite in the cafeteria then leave. But now they were stopping by every single shop that had something cute. Both Natsu and Lucy were getting sick of being here.

Out of the corner of her eye, Lucy spotted the comic book shop.

"Omi god!" Lucy shouted as she ran into the shop. Natsu, seeing what she was excited about, ran after her. Lisanna scoffed and stood in the center of the hallway.

Natsu looked back at her and asked, "Aren't you coming in?"

"Sorry babe but I wouldn't be caught dead in a place that." She scrunched up her nose to emphasize her point.

Natsu frowned then shrugged his shoulders. "Well then you can wait here till were done." Natsu grinned and ran into the shop. Lisanna's jaw nearly dropped to the ground by his statement and seethed of anger. 'That little witch' she screamed in her head and stomped in after her boyfriend.

Lucy was currently raiding one of the aisles of small figurines. "Natsu look! It's two collectable legendary Mewtwo and legendary Arceus figurines!" She nearly screamed.

" .God. How did something like that end up in this place?!" Natsu freaked out and grabbed the Mewtwo. But then his eyes fell on the price tag.

"It's 60 dollars..." Natsu said blankly.

"Yeah, this one's 65 dollars." Lucy sighed. "Guess I can only get one..."

Natsu eyed her strangely for a second then spoke, "But all of your money goes to food and rent."

"I know but I don't have a computer so I can't order it online. And the school won't let you shop online so who knows when I'll find these again." Lucy explained. Natsu stood silently for a minute then grabbed the Arceus out from her hands and held Mewtwo in the other.

"Which one do you want?" He questioned.

"Uhh... what?" Lucy asked confused.

"Mewtwo it is." Natsu said and walked up to the counter. "I'd like to buy this." Natsu told the clerk.

"That'd be $64.89 including tax." The clerk said back. Just as Natsu started to pull out his wallet, Lucy stepped in and pulled out her wallet.

"Natsu let me take care of this." Lucy demanded.

"Sorry no dice. I'd feel bad if you spent your hard earned money on something I could have easily bought for you." Natsu smiled and pushed her wallet away and once again pulled out his wallet but was once again interrupted.

"She's right Natsu, let her buy it." Lisanna urged him. "Save your money."

'Even though you forced him to buy countless outfits and jewelry for you' Lucy thought to herself.

"Oh look my hands going crazy!" Natsu yelled sarcastically as he pulled out his debut card and gave it to the guy on the other side of the counter. He smirked, "Whoops!".

Natsu handed Lucy the bag the clerk had just put the Mewtwo in and grinned. Lucy pouted and took the bag from his hands.

"I should have paid for it." Lucy grumbled.

"Nah. Your still just a kid, you shouldn't be spending your money on things like this." Natsu messed with her hair and Lucy swatted at his hands.

"I'm not a kid! I'm in the same grade as you!" Lucy countered.

"True, but by your age you should be a freshman. Little nerd." Natsu teased.

"At least I'm not just barely passing with C's." Lucy smirked.

"Well I have you to thank for even passing sophomore year..." Natsu smiled and Lucy blushed a bit.

"I'm so sorry to interrupt this heart felt moment but can we leave now?" Lisanna stepped in between them, blocking Natsu from Lucy.

"Okay." Natsu sighed and headed for the door. Lisanna quickly rushed over to him and entwined her arm with his. Lucy felt a pain in her chest but shook her head and followed them out the door.

...

The next day Lucy got up early and did chores around the house and finished at one in the afternoon. Lucy had lunch,which was a cup of noodle and sat at her desk as she worked on her entrance exams into AP Trigonometry. Lucy had finished algebra I in 7th grade and algebra II in eighth, with pre cal and calculus in 9th and10th. Although Lucy was 14 she was entering 11th grade and was currently at the top of her class.

This was the reason no one liked her besides Natsu. People didn't like the fact that someone younger that them is better than them. But Lucy never let it get to her and just focused on her studies. While making time for anime and still doing her best.

School started in a week so Lucy had to turn in this exam by tomorrow to get into the class she wanted.

Suddenly Lucy heard a thud from her bedroom and turned around to see Natsu walking out of her room.

"Yo Luce!" He greeted as he raided her fridge. Lucy had the urge to go kick him out but decided to let him stay. She was going grocery shopping tomorrow anyways.

Lucy did her best to focus on her work but was met with a road block when she got to a really hard and confusing equation. With a light bulb above her head, Lucy knew where to start and started to solve the first step of the equation when Natsu looked over her shoulder.

"Watcha doin?" Natsu asked. With a loud snap Lucy's concentration snapped and she lost her train of thought. Out of nowhere Lucy was looming over Natsu and poking him in the chest.

"Damn it Natsu! I was close to figuring out the equation when a certain pink-haired idiot ruined my train of thought!" Lucy yelled at him.

"Who are you calling an idiot?! And it's SALMON!" Natsu fired back at the blonde. Lucy groaned and sat back in her chair and got back to work while shouting, "Just sit and stay quiet for a second while I work out this problem!"

Natsu shut his mouth and went to sit across from her. He watched her closely as she worked out the problem, seeing her expression change from confusion to anger then to happiness.

After about 20 minutes on that one equation, Lucy raised her fists in victory.

"Mwahahahaha! I defeated you!" Lucy said in a weird but funny voice. She looked up at Natsu to see him with a concerned look on his face.

"What's the matter Natsu?" Lucy asked.

"Natsu sighed and rested his cheek on his palm. "I don't like the fact that you're working so hard at such a young age." Natsu confessed. "You work at the bakery almost everyday after school and have all AP classes, while still making time to hang out with me and watch anime. Not to mention you took classes at the community college this summer for extra credit." Lucy smiled sadly and got up and started to pack up her utensils.

"If I want to get into a good college I have to do my best right?" Lucy asked rhetorically.

"Lucy." Natsu said sternly and stood in front of her. "You managed to skip three grades and were at the top of our class last year. Not to mention you won state championship at the History bee and science fair." Natsu put a hand on her head. "Just learn to take it easy will you? Your to uptight." Lucy frowned and picked up her work book and pencil pouch.

"I should start the outline for my next science project for the fair." Lucy said as she tried to walk pass him.

"That's it!" Natsu shouted and picked up Lucy and threw her over his shoulder. Thank goodness she was wearing jeans. "Your gonna take a break right now!" He declared and brought her over to the couch. He then pulled out Sims 4 and put it in and handed Lucy a controller.

"Your going to relax right now and enjoy the game you just got!

Some how Lucy felt like he was threatening her.

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Heyoo! Here's second chapter. Like how I made Lucy supper smart. And if your worried about Lucy being 14 and Natsu being 17 don't be. I'll have Lucy's birthday in a bit then she'll be 15.

And if you didn't know, the song from the last chapter was The Phoenix by Fall Out Boy.

See ya laterzzz

Favorite, Follow, Review~


	3. Chapter 3

Sunshine spilled through the blinds into the quiet apartment. The six O'clock news could be heard from the living room as the shower ran in the bathroom. Lucy turned off the faucet and hopped out, quickly grabbing a towel to avoid the morning chill. She opened a window to let out the steam and headed for her bedroom.

On her desk sat her school uniform. Lucy shuffled out of her towel and slipped into her new clothes. Her uniform consisted of a navy blue skirt with golden lining and a white dress shirt with a plain navy blue bow tie. She then grabbed her navy blue blazer with gold out line and walked into the kitchen. Towel still in her hair, Lucy began to make breakfast for two. Lucy decided to make waffles and freshly squeezed orange juice with orange peels.

As the time on the clock read 7:30, right on time Natsu knocked on the door. Lucy went to answer it and welcomed the pinkette in.

"Mornin Luce." Natsu yawned.

"Mornin." Lucy greeted back then went back to the kitchen. Following the scent of food, Natsu ran ahead of her and immediately stuffed his face.

"Fanks for da foof Wucy!" Natsu said with his mouth full. Lucy smiled and sat down across from him and started to eat some orange peels. "No problem."

They ate in silence as they always did on school mornings. It wasn't uncomfortable, no words were needed to enjoy each other's company.

After they finished their meal Natsu and Lucy went to the bathroom to get ready for school. Natsu usually got ready at Lucy's apartment even though there's nothing wrong with his home, he says it's so they can spend more time together. Even though they're together every single day.

Natsu brushed his teeth with the spare toothbrush Lucy leaves for him as Lucy blow dried her hair. Feeling bored Lucy turned the blow dryer on high and shoved it in his face.

"What the heck?!" Natsu yelled as he pushed the blow dryer out of his face and hid behind the door. "What was that for?" He yelled.

"For wearing your uniform wrong." She voiced and eyed his uniform. It was practically the same as Lucy's, navy blue dress pants and blazer with a white dress shirt, only he had a blue neck tie. But Natsu's uniform was dirty and his blazer was open revealing a red shirt and in place of a tie was his favorite scarf. But the teachers let him wear his scarf for his own personal reasons.

"What's wrong with my uni-" Lucy cut him off but throwing a rag in his face.

"Dampen that rag and wash off the dirt, button up your blazer so the teachers don't know you forgot your dress shirt. Come on I'll help." Natsu eyed he strangely as Lucy walked to the kitchen. She took the rag from Natsu and wet it under sink the squeezed out the water to dampen it, then threw it back at him.

"Use that to clean up your pants, give me your blazer." Lucy told him and he complied. He handed over his blazer and Lucy set it on the table, grabbed a lint roller, and begun to clean it off. Natsu wiped off the dirt spots on his pants the best he could then turned back to see Lucy cleaning his blazer. She looked focused on it so Natsu just watched her.

"Okay done!" Lucy smiled and handed it back to him. "Do me a favor and get my back pack as I fix my hair." Lucy said and ran to the bathroom.

Deciding to be simple Lucy left her hair down and put on a brown head band that matched her shoes. Lucy looked over at the clock and saw that it read 8:14.

"Crap!" Lucy screamed as she ran into the living room where Natsu was waiting for her. She grabbed her back pack from him and pulled him out of her apartment with her.

"What's the matter?" He asked as they sped down the stairs.

"Class starts in six minutes!" Lucy shouted as they ran down the street. "This is your fault!"

"My fault?!" Natsu questioned.

"Well if you learned how to where your uniform right-"

"Well if you weren't such a mom!" Natsu shouted as they sped down the way to school. The academy was in sight and Lucy pulled out her schedule.

"I have AP lit. What about you?" Lucy panted.

"History!" Natsu breathed out.

They ran into the school and through the halls just as the sprint bell sounded.

"I'm this way!" Lucy shouted as she took a right "See ya later!" She yelled.

"Bye Luce!" Natsu yelled back.

Lucy ran up to her class and opened the door, the teacher wasn't here yet so Lucy let out a sigh of relief. Lucy walked to the back and sat by the window.

"Who's the kid?" A girl asked. She had long black hair and wore her uniform flawlessly. Minerva. She was one of Lisanna's friends and was the leader of their group.

"It's the kid genius." Another voice said. Angel. Also in Lisanna's group.

Those girls always picked on Lucy for being smart but she paid no attention and just let it happen. She didn't tell Natsu about it either. He was to busy with football to worry about her problems.

Suddenly Lucy was snapped out of her thoughts when Angel slammed her hand on her desk.

"What's a little mouse like you doing here?" She taunted. "Trying to please mommy and daddy?" She laughed. Lucy tensed up as she laughed and Minerva joined in.

"Come now Angel, you know she doesn't have any." Together they busted out giggling and Lucy hid her head in her arms when another voice joined in.

"Is there a problem here?" A sweet voice asked. The two girls immediately stopped laughing and Lucy looked up to see Mira and Levy facing them. The two girls paled and shrunk away.

"N-No." They squeaked and ran back to their desks. Mira smiled and sat down in the desk in front of Lucy and Levy sat in the one to her right.

"Don't pay attention to them Lu-chan!" Levy told her. Lucy nodded and gave a small smile.

Mira and Levy were both older than Lucy but they were still good friends of Lucy. They both new Lucy's parents were gone but didn't know the details. Only Natsu knew.

"Okay class." The teacher called as he walked in. "Let's begin."

...

"Yosh! Lunch time!" Natsu jumped out of his seat to head for his favorite lunch spot.

"Hey flame brain! Long time no see!" A voice called out. Natsu turned around to see his best frienemy.

"Sup ice prick!" He called back. "I see you still have that dumb look on yer face."

"You trying to start somethin?!"

"Bring it on ya pyro!"

"Oi, no fighting girls!" A gruff voice came up. The two 'friends' looked over to see their third 'friend' walking up to them.

"Shad up metal head!"

"You want some salamander?!" And so began a three way fight between three idiots until a red beast intervened.

"ALL OF YOU SHUT UP AND CALM YOUR ASS DOWN!" Erza roared and smacked all of the fighting idiots.

"Sorry... Erza." They muffled out as they beat up on the ground.

"Jeez..." Erza breathed.

"It's your fault for fighting." Levy said as she helped Gajeel up.

"Whatever shrimp." He huffed. Gajeel and Levy had been dating for a year now and although they looked like a strange couple, they went really good with each other.

"Gray-sama~!" Juvia called out as she tried to tackle Gray in a hug but failed when he moved out of the way.

"I thought I told you not to be so clingy." Gray said to her but was interrupted when Juvia hugged him.

"Juvia knows." She smiled.

"No I think you don't." Gray and Juvia have been dating for two years and Gray sometimes gets annoyed by the mass of her affection, but puts up with it.

Natsu sat up looking for Lucy but only saw his girlfriend Lisanna sitting next to him.

"Oh hey Lis." Natsu said as he got up.

"Are you okay Natsu?" She asked as she got up too.

"Yeah just fine, common, let's get lunch." He voiced as the group of friends walked to the cafeteria.

His eyes peered through the crowd looking for his favorite blonde but didn't see her.

"Still..." he whispered.

"Hey Natsu! Let's sit with my group to day!" Lisanna said and started to pull him toward where Minerva and Angel were sitting.

"Sorry Lisanna but I need to go do something. How about I take you out for ice cream after school instead?" Natsu suggested.

"Okay fine. But only non fat okay?"

"Kay. See ya!" Natsu yelled as he ran out of the cafeteria.

"Hey Natsu where you goin'?" Gray called.

"To the roof!" Natsu called back.

...

"There you are!" Natsu shouted as she ran up to Lucy, who was currently eating on the roof of the school.

"Hey Natsu." Lucy greeted.

"Don't you hey me! Why are you still eating up here." He demanded.

Lucy sighed and closed her lunch box. "I don't wanna hurt your reputation." She explained. Natsu groaned. Lucy was always like this, she thinks he don't know but he does. The kids here are jealous of how smart she is and in turn make fun of her. She only has two friend besides him which are Levy and Mira.

"Lucy just because I eat lunch with you doesn't mean it will hurt my reputation. And if it does then fuck those pricks because your awesome." Natsu said.

"But... I don't want people to stare... what are you doing?!" Lucy whimpered then turned to a squeak as Natsu picked her up and through her over his shoulder.

"I'm wearing a skirt!" Lucy yelled as she hit his back.

"Your coming with me!" Natsu said and carried her to the door that led back into the school. "I'll show you it won't hurt to eat lunch in public."

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Well there you go. Blah blah blah hope you enjoyed.

Favorite, Follow, Review~


	4. Chapter 4

Lunch among fellow humans wasn't so bad after all. But Lucy won't ever do it again.

It went smooth at first, she was introduced to all Natsu's friends and she sat down listening to the other's conversations. She was having a peaceful time, minus having the entire student body, Natsu's fan club, and his girlfriend's eyes drill holes in back of her head. She could hear the whispers from everyone around her filled with jealously, mockery, and hatred.(especially from his fan club)

"Isn't that the kid genius?"

"What's a geek like her doing sitting with Natsu-sama's group?"

"He probably just took pity on her."

"Your right. Other ways he would never hang out with such a loser."

"I heard that they're childhood friends."

"Pfft. No way."

Lucy couldn't take it anymore and ran away, leaving Natsu and the rest behind. What can she say, she can't handle having that much attention on her, she gets scared.

So now Lucy was hugging her legs and rocking back and forth on top of the roof. Lucy got out her 3DS and started to play super smash bros when she heard the roof door open. Lucy looked up from her game to see Natsu. And not just Natsu, all of his friends were with him. "What are you-"

"We wanted to apologize." Natsu interrupted. "I explained you don't like attention to the guys and we felt bad for pulling you out of your comfort zone." Natsu said as he sat down next to Lucy and took a roll from her lunch box. "So we're gonna eat lunch on the roof with you." Lucy looked around at everyone and saw that they were all smiling at her.

 _Staring_

Lucy quickly hid behind Natsu and hid her face in his scarf, earning a few laughs from the other's.

"Lu-chan!" Levy called as she poked her side, causing Lucy to look up. "Ah, there you are!"

"Levy-chan..." Lucy murmured.

"We haven't been friends long but I want you to know that we won't let you be alone anymore." Levy told her. Lucy started to tear up but quickly wiped her eyes.

"Thank you so much..." Lucy whispered.

 _Thank you_

...

"Thanks again for bringing everyone at lunch." Lucy thanked Natsu as they walked out of school.

"No problem, just helping out my best bud." Natsu said, playfully hitting her on the shoulder. Lucy laughed and hit him back.

"Well I'll be in the library till your done with football." Lucy said and was about to leave when Natsu stopped her.

"Actually I promised Lisanna I would take her out to ice cream today so..."

"Huh? But we always walk home together." Lucy voiced.

"Sorry... maybe you could come with us?" Natsu suggested.

"Nah it's fine." She sighed and headed for the gate of the school when a soccer ball came flying through the air and slamming into Lucy's head, causing her to fall.

"I knew you couldn't do it." Natsu groaned as he went over to help Lucy up. "You okay?"

"Never better." Lucy said as blood dripped from her nose.

"Nope, I am not letting you walk home alone." Natsu declared. He then took her to the bleachers and sat her down. "I called Levy, she should be here in a few minutes."

"Okay." Lucy said and watched him run out to the field. She watched the boys run laps for a while but quickly became bored. So she wouldn't waist her time just sitting there, Lucy pulled out a book to read. She was just getting to the good part when she felt two small hands cover her eyes.

"Guess who~" They sang.

"I know it's you Levy-chan cut it out." Lucy said as she pried her friend's hands off her face.

"Ok okay jeez, you ready to go?" Lucy nodded and followed Levy off the bleachers, Natsu watched her leave. She then left for the gate and disappeared from site.

'I hope she'll be ok' He thought to himself.

...

With homework done and dinner eaten, Lucy sat on her couch playing a new game she and Natsu found at the game shop, called Nature Call Online for PS3 and PS4. It was a world wide game where you picked a specific biome and an animal that comes from that biome. Lucy and Natsu both picked the forest, she was a little white fox while Natsu was a large red wolf. You could add friends here and have either public or private chat. Looking at her friend list she saw that Natsu was online.

 **Zodiac12: Hey**

 **Fire Dragon: Sup**

 **Fire Dragon: Did you get home safely**

 **Zodiac12: Yeah**

 **Fire Dragon: Nothing broken?**

 **Zodiac12: Nope I'm good**

 **Fire Dragon: Phew, that's good news**

 **Fire Dragon: Hey meet me by the Northern forest!**

 **Zodiac12: K**

After that Lucy exited out of chat and crawled out of her den. The wolves territory was the north, the Fox territory was the east. To the south was the wild cats and the west was the bears. In the center was no man's land where all of the animals mingled. You also can't get hurt in no man's land, which is why so many people choose to buy dens there. But if you go into a territory, especially the enemies', there's no guarantee for your safety.

Lucy jumped over the tree bridge that led into no man's land and headed through. All around were animal species of every kind. Lucy ran through all of them and continued to the north. At the edge of the forest Lucy saw Natsu sitting in wait, his username displayed over his head. She ran over to him and requested a chat. Natsu accepted and a small box in the corner labled chat appeared.

 **Fire Dragon: Took you long enough**

 **Zodiac12: Shut up! It takes a while to get over her**

 **Fire Dragon: Whatever, common follow me!**

Natsu and Lucy headed for the border, before Lucy could continue a warning appeared on her screen.

 **Warning!**

 **You are now entering an enemy territory.**

 **Do you wish to continue?**

Lucy clicked yes and followed after her friend. He led her through the forest to the foot of the mountains. Natsu headed to a cave opening near a waterfall and walked in, Lucy close behind.

The cave was well lit and was spacious. In the corner was two beds made of leaves and in the corner was a pile of old bones.

 **Fire Dragon: I finally made enough kk to buy a new den**

In Nature Calls Online, or NCO, kk stood for kill koins, which was money made by hunting.

 **Zodiac12: It's really nice, how much did it cost?**

 **Fire Dragon: 800kk**

 **Zodiac12: What?! How in the world did you save up that much kk?!**

 **Fire Dragon: Lot's of duels**

 **Zodiac12: Ohhh**

Besides hunting, a player could also gain kk by fighting in duels. Which are usually held in no man's land because you can't die there.

 **Zodiac12: It sure beats by tiny den back home**

 **Fire Dragon: That's why I brought you here**

Suddenly a pop up appeared in the middle of her screen.

 **Fire Dragon is offering his den open to you**

 **Do you accept?**

 **Zodiac12: Natsu, what's this?**

 **Fire Dragon: I don't like the fact we live in different territories**

 **Fire Dragon: So I bought a bigger den that we can share**

Lucy blushed at his words and quickly typed a reply.

 **Zodiac12: It's risky for one to live in another territory. Plus what about my den?**

 **Fire Dragon: You can sell it. Plus it's not that uncommon for people to live outside their territory**

 **Fire Dragon: And you'll have me to protect you.**

Lucy thought about it for a second. Them living together was almost like... Nope. Nope. Don't think like that. Lucy let out a sigh and click yes.

 **Zodiac12: Ok you got me**

 **Fire Dragon: Yaaaaaay!**

Lucy let out a laugh and checked the time, 11p.m. Time to go to bed

 **Zodiac12: I'm gonna log out**

 **Fire Dragon: What! Why?**

 **Zodiac12: A little thing we have called school tomorrow**

 **Fire Dragon: Who cares?!**

 **Zodiac12: I care!**

 **Fire Dragon: Pouts* fine**

 **Zodiac12: Good night!**

 **Fire Dragon: Good night Lucy**

With that she logged out and exited the game. Lucy turned of her PS3 and headed for bed. Looking at her phone she noticed she got a message from Natsu.

 _Sleep tight_

 _._

 _._

 _._

So sorry it took so long. Also I just made up that game, don't go looking for it. But i would love to play that game. See ya in the near future!

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	5. Chapter 5

Natsu sat in boredom as his teacher, Clive-sensei, gave a boring lecture on the history of somewhere sometime that he honestly didn't give two shits about. Lucy was quite the opposite. She was listening carefully to her teacher's words while tentatively taking notes.

Because of Lucy's intellect she was able to move up two grades into Natsu's grade. It actually happened last year, she was an eight grader coming into eleventh grade. Though Natsu was worried she would get bullied, he was happy they were now in the same grade, but they aren't in any of the same classes, save one. She was in advanced placement everything, while Natsu was just in the normal classes for ordinary people.

 _Ding Ding Ding_

"Okay brats class dismissed!" Clive-sensei called.

Yes, 6th period. Not only was this the last class of the day, it was his only class with Lucy. Art.

...

[Lucy's POV]

Lucy walked through the halls heading to her last period of the day, and her favorite. It was already a week into school and she's had the best and worst times. Natsu and the gang kept their promise and ate with her everyday on the roof. She's made some great friends, like Erza. She was beautiful and a little more than intimidating. She was also the student council president.

Then their was Gray and Juvia. Gray was Natsu's childhood rival with a strange stripping habit. Even though Gray and Natsu have known each other just as long as she has, they never formally met.

Juvia however was really scary when she wanted to be and completely obsessed with Gray. Even though they're dating, she sees every girl as her love rival. Once Lucy explained she didn't have any interest in Gray they became good friends, although she still keeps a close eye on her.

"Hey Luce!" Lucy looked up to see Natsu waving towards her.

"Hey Natsu." She said as she slipped her backpack off and on to her seat.

"Jeez you look terrible." He noted.

"Thank you Natsu that's exactly what every girl wants to hear." She did not have the energy to deal with his sarcasm. Last night she and Natsu played Call of duty Black Ops zombies and managed to get to level 78 before dying, which ended up making her stay up till 3 in morning. That and all of her stupid ap classes, she was beat.

"So tell me, how is it that you look like death right now?" Natsu asked.

"Staying up til 3 and eight hours of school don't mix." Lucy groaned in her seat. Natsu sat down next to her and rubbed her back.

"Don't worry we have a substitute, and from what Mira said he's pretty relaxed so you can take a nap." He said as he patted her head.

"Thanks." She mumbled. Before she knew it she had already fell asleep. Her dream made no sense as she dreamed about a little man riding a dog and Natsu in a pumpkin costume. When she finally came to it was with Natsu calling out her name.

"Oh good your awake."

"What's going on?" Lucy yawned and stretched.

"Class is over it's time to leave." He said as he picked up her backpack with his own. Lucy got up and followed him out into the halls as she rubbed her eyes. First they headed to Natsu's locker because it was closer, then they headed for Lucy's, who's was on the next floor down (they were currently on the 3rd floor). As The two approached her locker some guy riding through the halls on a skate board passed them, running over Lucy's foot.

"Holy peaches and oats!" Lucy cried out as she crouched down to hold her foot. Everyone in the near proximity turned to look at her but she paid no attention.

"You ok Lucy?" Natsu asked as he bent down next to her.

"I'll be better when I'm home." Lucy muttered and stood up along with Natsu. She hurriedly grabbed the binders she would need for homework, and put away the ones she didn't need.

Afterwards They headed of to the library, Lucy limping and Natsu helping her stay up. Upon arrival they said their quick goodbyes and parted. They would see each other later anyways. Natsu went off to football practice and Lucy went off to do her homework. As soon as she walked in she saw levy and one of the large tables with stacks off books surrounding her.

"You look busy." Lucy said as she sat down across from her. Levy looked up partly and smiled. "Just using my free time to study Egyptian hieroglyphics and Mesopotamian cuneiform." She answered. Lucy looked at her in amazement. Levy was the only person she knew who spent their free time learning to read ancient righting.

"Well I'm just gonna work on my homework until Natsu's done with practice." She sighed and took out her chemistry book and binder. Though she stopped when she heard Levy snicker.

"What?" She asked as she looked up at her.

"Oh nothing!" Levy sang and wiggled her eyebrows. "Just thinking how close you and Natsu are. Before you know it there will be tiny feet running through the halls." She giggled as Lucy blushed.

"You forget Levy-chan, Natsu already has a girlfriend." Lucy said sadly. Levy scoffed a waved her hand.

"I wouldn't worry about it, through out the entire relationship he's spent more time with you than with her. You still have a chance." Levy encouraged.

"Still, they've been together for like a year or somthing..." Lucy denounced.

Levy was about to argue when Lucy let out a huge sigh and rested her chin on her palm.

"Besides," She added. "I like how things are between us. As friends."

Levy felt bad for her friend but decided to end the topic. Lucy started on her homework and she continued with her reading. In only 20 minutes, Lucy was moving on to a different class which she finished in just half an hour. Seriously? How did she finish up her lengthy homework so fast. Another half an hour passed and Lucy was just starting her pre-reading assignment when Natsu walked into the library.

"Hey Luce, you ready?" He greeted/asked.

"Yeah just let me put my stuff away." She replied and started putting her books into her back pack. She said goodbye to Levy then followed Natsu out the door.

Though still a bit sleepy, Lucy felt more energized as they headed over to her house. She didn't live to far from the school which was good for both her, and Natsu. He always came to her house in the morning to eat whatever she had and just hang out until they had to leave. Natsu didn't dare drive to school because of his motion sickness. In fact, the only time he ever drives is if he has to travel somewhere out of walking distance.

No more than fifteen minutes later they arrived at her appartment complex. It was old and small but the rent was cheap. Lucy lived on the second floor in number 4.

As soon as they walked in Natsu collapsed on her beanbag and leat out a groan.

"I'm so huuunngy!" He whined.

"We could order pizza. I'm kinda out of food." Lucy suggested looking at her empty fridge.

"K but I'm buying!" Natsu said as he looked through her video games. As he did that Lucy called up the local pizza place.

"Hello? Could I get one large pizza half extra spicy pepperoni and sausage, other half Hawaiian style... 812 Strawberry street number 4... k thank you." With that she hung up and went into the living room where Natsu was putting a disc into the PS3.

"What game did you pick?" Lucy asked. Natsu simply handed her a controller and sat in her beanbag. Lucy took a seat next to him on her old recliner. Sadly this was all the furniture she had in her living room. She didn't have much but she made due with what she did have.

The once black screen lit up to show her favor game.

 **Nature Calls Online**

Was displayed on the screen and she let out a small excited squeal.

They started to play by decorating their new den together. Then going hunting in the northern mountains. The pizza came thirty minutes into playing where they continued to play while eating. They then switched to playing Mario kart 8 on her Wii, then Nintendo Land.

Eventually they decided to put on a movie. Using Natsu's Netflix account they ended up watching the avengers. When the movie ended it was 11 O'clock and Lucy was already asleep. Natsu carefully picked her up and carried her to her room. He tucked Lucy into bed and turned off the lights. Before leaving he sat next to her bed and lay his head next to hers before climbing into bed with her, his parents probably wouldn't mind if he stayed the night. This wasn't the first time he's done this and he was sure to get an earful tomorrow. Oh well.

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Uea! Well new chapter. So... yeah.

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	6. Chapter 6

Sunlight spilled into the room, chasing out the night time darkness. Lucy peeked her eyes open to look at the clock- 11:03. Saturday. She groaned and turned onto her other side but froze when she felt something around her waist. Looking up Lucy saw the sleeping face of her best friend right next to her. She had pretty much gotten used to this by now. He had started sneaking in two years ago. That didn't stop the blush from spreading across her face. Out of panic and embarrassment she bolted up and started hitting Natsu with her pillow. It didn't take long for him to wake up after that.

"Hey, hey! Stop it already!" He growled and grabbed the pillow from her hands. "I was sleeping!"

"In my bed!" Lucy yelled.

"Common! I thought we were over it!" He groaned as he rubbed his temple.

"Still doesn't mean it's okay to sleep in bed with me!" She argued but then froze.

 _'He's shirtless!'_

Lucy instantly turned red and fell off the bed. "Where's your shirt?" Lucy asked calmly, even though inside she was screaming.

"Hm? Oh, it got a bit warm so I took it off." He said nonchalantly. Lucy stood up and threw his shirt at him, which she found on the floor, and walked out of the room. Natsu could hear water running and guessed she was in the shower.

Deciding to check his phone, he pulled it out and turned it on.

 **Nine missed calls**

 **Fourteen new messages**

As he scrolled through his phone he saw that two calls was his mom and one text was from Gray. All the rest were Lisanna.

 **Hey babe 9:05**

 **Are you there? 9:07**

 **Hellooo? 9:08**

 **Earth 2 Natsu? 9:10**

 **Well when ever you get these call me 9:15**

 **Did you get them yet? 9:26**

 **Babe? 9:31**

 **Baaaaaabbbbeeeee! 9:35**

 **Are you ignoring me?! 10:00**

 **I won't be happy if you are! 10:02**

 **Are you with someone else?! 10:13**

 **Is it a girl or guy?! 10:15**

 **Is it Lucy? 10:17**

Natsu decided to reply back to her.

 _Sorry lis I just woke up 11:14_

 **Where were you!? 11:14**

 _I spent the night at Lucy's place 11:15_

 **What?! Why? 11:15**

 _What? It's normal for me to stay at her place 11:15_

 **I don't want you seeing that girl anymore 11:17**

 _But she's my best friend 11:18_

 **But I'm your girlfriend! 11:18**

 _That doesn't give you the right to tell me who my friends are! 11:19_

"Hey Natsu! I'm making pancakes, how many do you want?" Lucy's voice came from the kitchen.

"Seven!" He yelled back. His phone then started to go off, his ringtone was The Phoenix.

"Hello?"

 _ **I'm not telling who your friends are, I'm saying I don't trust that girl with you.**_

"Lucy? You can trust her, I've known her since fifth grade!"

 _ **But who says she won't make a move on you?**_

"She would never do that! Lucy isn't looking for a relationship, she barely talks with anyone but me!"

 _ **...I still don't like her...**_

Natsu sighed into the phone and ran his fingers through his hair. "Look lis, I like you, but Lucy has been my friend for seven years. If your gonna make me choose it's gonna be her." Natsu finished. A gasp could be heard from the other line followed by her yelling.

 _ **Are you breaking up with me?!**_

"No I'm not. I'm just saying that I'm not gonna stop being friends with Lucy." Natsu explained.

 _ **Your clearly not well. I'll talk to you about this later.**_

"Lisanna-"

 _ **Bye.**_

The phone went dead. Natsu sighed and shoved his phone in his pocket. He walked out into the living room where Lucy was sitting at the table pouring syrup on his pancakes.

"Raspberry syrup with strawberries and extra whip cream, just like you like it." Lucy smiled. Natsu stared at her. She knew the way he liked his pancakes perfectly, she knew everything about him. And he knew everything about her.

 _'I would be crazy if I ever let her go'_ He thought

Lucy noticed he was starting at her and stopped eating her own pancake.

"What's the matter?" Lucy asked.

Natsu stayed quiet for a few second then spoke up, "I think I should break up with Lisanna."

Lucy's eyes widened. "What?"

"She said that I can't be friends with you anymore, and I don't want someone coming between us." He explained.

Lucy was having mixed emotions. She was happy that he would have more time for her again. But she also felt sympathetic for Lisanna. She new Lisanna really liked Natsu and was worried that Lucy would get in the way. They were actually the same.

"Give her another chance." Lucy said and took another bite.

"Wha? Why?" Natsu stared at her like she grew a second head.

"Lisanna cares for you and is just cautious of me interfering in your relationship. Just tell her that I won't get in the way." Lucy finished.

Natsu was in deep thought as he considered her words. She was right, maybe Lis was just being a bit over protective.

"Okay...but first, let's eat!"

...

"WHAT?!" Levy and Mira screamed in harmony.

"Yep." Lucy said calmly.

"But that was your chance!" Mira whined.

The three of them sat in a small coffee shop called Love and Lucky, which is also where her parents met. That's why this coffee shop was her favorite it the whole town. She was currently working here and asked Levy and Mira to come over while she was on break.

"You should have gone for it." Levy agreed as she sipped her mocha.

"Nah, I want Natsu to be happy...even if it's with someone else." Lucy said, whispering the last part. Mira clicked her tongue and waved a finger in Lucy's face.

"That someone should be you. Listen Lucy, I've known Natsu just as long if not longer than you and I can tell you, he looks at you in a way that's different from anyone else, even my little sister. He just doesn't know it yet." Mira lectured on. "I'll even bet 50 bucks that you'll be dating by the end of the year."

"I'll take that bet." Lucy smiled and shook her hand.

"And you'll be fifteen soon. With Natsu being seventeen it gives the odds an extra boost." Levy added and finished off her drink.

"Fifteen?" Lucy questioned.

"Your birthday is next weeks right?" Levy asked.

"Oh I didn't know! We have to have a party to celebrate. I'll be the in charge of the plans of course." Mira clapped happily.

Lucy paled and looked down at her lap, small pearls of tears started to form in the corners of her eyes, which didn't go unnoticed by the two girls.

"Lucy-"

"Hey Heartfilia! Break time is over!" The manager called.

"Okay!" She called back relived. "Sorry guys gotta go."

Lucy got up and left, leaving them to ponder at the blonde's reaction. What could have caused such a reaction at the mention of her birthday?

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Sorry for the lameness of the chapter but this was necessary for the plot.

Also I don't have anything against Lisanna but I needed a hitch for the story and she was the number one candidate. I love her character and just wanna let you know i don't hate her.

Finals so nothing for a while. Sorry.

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	7. Chapter 7

It had been three days since the strange incident at the cafe and Lucy was even more distant then usual. She didn't talk to Mira and Levy as much and only spoke when spoken to, still only giving simple short answers. Natsu was trying to make up time for Lisanna so wasn't spending as much time with Lucy.

Wanting to find out was going on Mira suggested they go ask Natsu about it since he was the closest to her. Worried about their friend Levy agreed so they went to go track down the pink-haired moron.

They found him sitting with Lisanna's group in the cafeteria instead of with their blonde friend.

"Hey Natsu can we talk to you?" Mira asked as they walked up to the table.

"Hey sis, what do you need?" Lisanna countered before Natsu could speak.

"We just need to ask him something." Levy told her. Lisanna looked suspicious but didn't interrupt when Natsu spoke up.

"What is it?" He inquired.

"Can we speak in private?" Mira said quietly. Natsu was about to get up but before he could, Lisanna pulled him back down.

"Anyting you need to say to him you can say to all of us." Lisanna glowered. Angel and Minerva smirked right behind her.

"It's about Lucy birthday." Levy stated. Right the mention of the occasion Natsu abruptly stood up and out of Lisanna's grasp.

"It's that time of year huh?" Natsu asked, Mira and Levy nodded their heads. Natsu looked down at the ground for a while, seemingly deep in thought. He then turned to Lisanna. "Sorry lis, I have to go." Natsu told her before walking off with the two girls.

Lisanna glared and turned to her friends. "Something smells fishy and I'm gonna find out what." She spat, venom laced in her words. Minerva and Angel smiled wickedly and the three got up to follow them.

They were talking in an empty class room and they were listening carefully outside the door.

"Okay," Natsu breathed, "what happened?"

"Well we were talking at her work and mentioned her birthday was in a week," Levy started off. "Then she became even more distant then usual." Mira finished.

Natsu took in a deep breath the let it out in a exasperated sigh. "Six years ago when she was nine he parents took her to the amusement park for her birthday but died in a crash. Lucy broke a few bones but survived. She then moved in with my family since she had no one left, but one year on the same day my mother and little sister almost got hit by a car. You see Lucy has always been a target for bad carma and sees herself as a black cat. So she moved out and lives on her own. My family still tries to support her but she so stubborn she refuses money." Natsu finished. Both parties, inside and out were shocked. No one spoke for a while, til Levy spoke up.

"So that's why she's so distant. Levy remarked. "She's afraid she'll lose someone close to her on her birthday."

Natsu nodded, "She once tried to convince me to leave her when I got hurt while we were fishing. I had fallen into the water and had my leg snagged on something. She blamed herself for it and tried to cut ties with me. But i then made her a promise, even if i ended up in the hospital or lost an arm, I would always stand by her side." Natsu smiled at his palms as he thought back to that day. "I don't see Lucy as a black cat, after all, without her I don't know what I'd do with my life." Lisanna flinched at his words and stood up, stomping her way down the hall. 'She'll pay for this!'.

The three heard the footsteps but thought nothing of it. Mira started to sequel and jump around while Natsu started at her strangely.

"A declaration of love! It's just to perfect!" She cried. At her words Natsu quickly turned red and stood in his defensive saying, "I don't like her in THAT way! She's just...really important to me." Mira brushed him off saying that they would be married and have thirty-three babies. While Levy tried to calm the raging girl down.

However in Lisanna's group, she was cooking up a scheme that would show Natsu that that girl was trouble. How could she sleep at night knowing he was hanging around that abomination. She would show him that she'd only hurt him and with her was where he belonged. And so she began her project.

The next day Lucy was met with a horrific sight on the school web page.

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Sorry for the short chapter next will be longer promise. PLEASE LEAVE A REVIEW! I'D LIKE TO HEAR OPINIONS!

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	8. Chapter 8

The people at school were acting weirder than ever. It was normal for Lucy to be ignored; she was used to it. But now everyone was avoiding her like the plague. While walking through the hallways everyone would run at the sight of her. And it was only second period.

During class her classmates scooted their desks away as far as possible and not have the teacher yell at them.

Finally she saw Levy in third and ran up to her. "Levy!" She called as she walked up. The bluenette looked surprised at the blonde calling her name. "Lucy..." she trailed off.

"Levy, why is everyone acting so weird?" Lucy questioned her friend. Levy shifted in place, looking away. She then pulled on Lucy's arm tugging her to the teacher.

"Bisca-sensei, Lucy isn't feeling so well, can I take her to the nurse?" Levy asked, Lucy looked confusingly at her til it dawned on her that Levy was trying to get out of class to show her what was going on.

"I'm sad to hear that, okay take a pass before you go." Sensei smiled then turned back to her computer. Lucy followed Levy out into the hallway where she was led to the library. Levy turned on a computer and logged onto our school webpage. On top of the website was a video named BLACK CAT. Levy clicked on the video and handed Lucy a pair of headphones. Lucy put them on and sat down, turning her attention to the video.

Lucy was shocked to see the news footage of the crash that killed her parents. The screen turned black then showed the newspaper article of the crash from six years ago.

 **Jude And Layla Heartfilia Dead After Car Crash On Highway**

Unexpected death of Millionaire Jude Heartfilia and His wife, Layla Heartfilia, has now left their only child, Lucy Heartfilia, orphaned and in the care of close family friends, Igneel Dragneel and Gandeneey Dragneel.

The screen turned black once again then opened up with the article from five years ago.

 **Near death experience of Mother and Daughter**

Last Thursday around 5:30p.m., Mother Grandeneey Dragneel and Daughter, Wendy Dragneel, saw their life flash before their eyes as were nearly hit by a drunk driver going 50 mph.

Next was an insert of the football game from last year against their rival school, Saber Tooth, and the game that would have taken them to state. It was a clip of the final seconds where the wide receiver failed to catch the ball which cost them the game. The video suddenly froze and zoomed in to the crowd circling me in the back row. That was the one game I showed up to the entire season.

Next was a photo montage of me getting hurt. Getting hit in the face with a dodge ball, slamming her hand in my locker, falling down the stairs, and getting hit by an opening door.

Watching this made Lucy wonder where they got all of this footage.

Finally the video ended with a picture of her parents graves and in bolded words:

 **A Black Cat Of Misfortune-Lucy Heartfilia**

The screen then reverted to the school webpage. Lucy slowly took off the headphones and looked to Levy.

"Lisanna," Levy said quickly "she's the one who made the video."

Lucy looked down at her lap, tears brimmed her eyes but she wiped them away. She would not cry.

"Do you wanna go home? No one will blame you if you do." Levy told her. Lucy shook her head and got up, heading for the door.

"If they wanna call me a black cat I don't care, I've always known I was bad luck." She spoke, her voice wavering. The two walked back to class together.

...

Well her entire day has been completely awful. What started with being avoided turned into back talk and people calling her names. By fifth, random people from her classes started blaming her for their misfortune. One guy even told Lucy to kill herself. You can bet your hat Lucy ate out of site today, further than usual. She made a point to stay away from her friends so the wouldn't be dragged in. What worried her is that Natsu is in her next class.

Lucy walked slowly through the hallway, dragging her feet. The second Lucy walked into class the rowdy noises of the students died out. Keeping her head down, Lucy didn't even have to look up to know everyone was staring. She could feel the daggers being glared into her back.

Out of nowhere, Lucy felt a hand fall on her shoulder. "Lucy..." a voice called behind her.

Lucy knew that voice all to well. She looked over her shoulder and saw Natsu standing over her with a serious look on his face. "Natsu." Lucy whispered.

"I've been looking for you," he grunted as he sat down next to her "where have you been?" Natsu asked.

"Trying to keep a low profile." Lucy sighed. "I assume you've seen the video?"

"Yeah..." He nodded. "...I'm sorry..."

"It's not your fault, I just wanna know who did this and why." She told him lightly. Lucy then laid her head down on the table and just wished she would disappear. Natsu rubbed her back throughout the period, trying to give her support. He felt like shit knowing Lucy was in pain and he couldn't help her.

Natsu swore that he'd find the culprit and show them what happened when you messed with Lucy. You hurt her, you face him.

...

Today had been the longest day of Lucy's life. Now that school was finally over, Lucy just wanted to go home and crawl up in bed. Natsu even promised he'd stay with her all day, so he skipped football practice even though she told him not to. Walking through the court yard Lucy kept her eyes on her shoes while she gripped onto Natsu's hand.

"Babe!" A voice sounded. Lisanna. "What are you doing? You'll miss football practice!"

"I'm skipping football today to take Luce home." He stated. Lisanna's face was drenched in anger and she lashed out, "Why does she mean so much to you?!" She shouted, drawing attention to them. "She's nothing but a magnet for bad luck! If you stick around her you just end up getting hurt!"

"DON'T TALK ABOUT HER LIKE YOU KNOW HER!" Natsu suddenly yelled out of nowhere. "Lucy is the smartest and kindest person I've ever met! And if I end up getting hurt then that's fine with me."

"Why can't you understand I'm just trying to look out for you!" She questioned angrily, stepping closer to him. "I thought that video would open your eyes but it hasn't!" She yelled out frustrated.

"You made that video?" Natsu said quietly. Lisanna said nothing but looked away. Natsu clenched his teeth and pushed Lucy behind him, not caring that they now had an audience. "You're the reason Lucy has to go through this?!

"I did it for you..." Lisanna whispered.

"I don't care about that!" He snapped. "What's matters is that you gave personal information out to the ENTIRE SCHOOL! Did you even consider her feelings?! Lucy has been suffering from guilt from everything that's happened and YOU parade that information like it's nothing!"

"Natsu..." Lucy mumbled and pulled at his arm, Natsu looked back at Lucy. "Enough." Natsu let out a sigh and patted her on the head. "I told you if you're gonna make me choose it would be her." Natsu said and walked away. "Oh"s could be heard coming from the small crowd.

"Are you breaking up with me?! We've been together for eleven months!" She exploded.

"And Lucy's been my friend for seven years." He said flatly. "I choose her."

With that he left the court yard with Lucy by his side. Not looking back.

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Merry Christmas! So sorry this took a while. Please enjoy future chapters to come! If you like this story please go check out my others.

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	9. Chapter 9

Natsu sat in silence as he watched Lucy chow down on a bowl of ice cream on her bed, whilst surrounded by blankets. She's been like this since the whole break up incident with Lisanna. After that on the next day, Lisanna told everyone that Lucy had forced Natsu to break up with her. Now he and Lis looked like the victim and Lucy was at fault. Mirajane was currently siding with Lucy because she knew it was actually Lisanna's doing. She said that Lisanna is just possessive and is going about it in the wrong way, but she wouldn't forgive what her sister was doing to Lucy. Their brother Elfman however, he would do anything for Lisanna and was on her side.

Hearing the familiar ring, Natsu looked at his phone to see he had a text.

 **Ice Princess: where are you?**

Natsu ignored the message and shoved his phone back into his pants pocket. Gray had been trying to get in touch with him lately to hear his side of the story. But he was to busy looking after Lucy to deal with him, he's even been skipping practice. And the homecoming game was next week.

Lucy was still going to school but she's been wearing a hoodie over her uniform to try to go unnoticed. But it hasn't been working out well for her. Ever since video first came out, Lis has been spreading more and more rumours. What was worse was tomorrow was Lucy's birthday. Just like always, Natsu would camp out in her apartment and skip school with her to spend the day inside. Lucy never wanted to go out on her birthday and no matter how much she pleaded, Natsu refused to leave her side on that day. Unless of course it was to take a leak or drop a log.

But this year would be a bit different. Natsu had been planning something with Mira, Levy and the gang. He had already explained the situation to them. Except Gray of course.

Again his phone sounded with it's little ringtone.

"Answer it." Lucy said, ice cream in hand. Natsu opened his phone to answer the call.

 **Ice Princess: Flame shit answer you damn phone!**

 _What do you want stripper?_

 **Ice Princess: Finnaly! What's up man you've been acting all depressed lately**

 **Ice Princess: You upset over Lisanna?**

 _Heck no! I'm the one who broke up with her!_

 **Ice Princess: what?! I thought that Lucy forced you?**

 _Don't tell me you believe that crap_

 _Meet me at 8island restaurant in ten, I'll tell you what's been going on_

"Hey Luce, we're meeting up with Gray, common get dressed." Natsu slapped his hands down on his legs and stood up.

"W-What? B-But I d-d-don't think-"

"Don't worry," Natsu said taking away her snack food. "we'll be back before midnight. Nothing will happen." Lucy still looked doubtful. Hanging her head in her lap she sighed.

"Fine. But I get to stay in my pajamas AND you have to carry me." She said, crossing her arms pouting. Natsu chuckled and rubbed her head. "Deal."

Lucy followed Natsu to the door, grabbing a sweater and slippers on the way. Natsu grabbed his keys and left through the door. Once downstairs Lucy hopped on his back and they went on their way. 8island was too far from Lucy's apartment and was within walking distance.

...

Natsu and Lucy sat in a booth across from the school's wide receiver, Gray Fullbuster. Lucy was currently sipping on a strawberry milkshake and Natsu was munching on some extra spicy ramen, while Gray just had a bowl ice cream. A couple of students from their school were in the restaurant, pointing and murmuring thing, no doubt about Lucy. But the trio ignored them.

"So...you wanna tell me what the deal is with Lisanna?" Gray started. Natsu slurped up oodles of noodles and wiped his mouth.

"Long story short, Lisanna thought Lucy was in the way of our relationship and tried to use that video as a means to get out of the picture." Natsu uttered. Taking in another bunch of noodles. Gray looked over at Lucy, who was staring out the window, then back to Natsu.

"Okay...but why haven't you been coming to football practice?" He questioned.

"Because I've been taking care of Lucy." Natsu said simply. Gray grabbed him by the collar and slammed his forehead into his.

"You idiot!" He seethed. "I understand you're worried but you can't just decided to skip out on practice! The homecoming game is next week and you're our quarterback!"

"Why you-"

"I'm sorry Fullbuster-san but I'll be borrowing Natsu until until tomorrow ends. After that he'll work twice as hard at practice. Right Natsu?" Lucy smiled. Natsu nodded and both of them sat back down. Lucy stopped smiling and looked into her drink sadly. "I'm truly sorry Fullbuster-san, I didn't mean to cause you trouble to." She whispered.

Gray shook his hand and smiled. "It's cool, I don't blame you." He patted her head. "And call me Gray, I never liked those honorifics." Lucy looked up and smiled ever so slightly.

"Thank you, Gray." Gray grinned and was met with a fist to the face.

"What the hell was that for?!" He yelled and stood up, butting heads with the pink-haired teenager.

"For being a huge pervert!"

"Who the hell are you calling a perv flame for brain?"

"The one who likes to publicly strip!"

"I never do that!"

"Oh yeah where are your pants?!"

Lucy let out a squeak and covered her eyes. Gray cursed and searched for his missing clothing while Natsu laughed his ass off on the ground. Finding his pants, Gray sent a kick to his gut.

"What the fuck was that for?" Natsu shouted.

"Payback for punching me in the face." Gray smirked.

"You want some?!"

"Bring it firetard!"

Before they could start fighting Lucy stepped in between them and glared, a dark aura surrounding her. "I'll have you know we are in a restaurant and there are children here. If you even think about causing mayhem you can bet your hat that you won't live to see another day." Natsu and Gray both froze in place and vigorously nodded their heads.

In a flash Lucy's dark aura disappeared and a smile covered her face. "Good." She chimed. "Well Natsu and I better get going, see you!" With that she dragged Natsu away out the door, leaving some money on the table. The once blue sky was now dark and grey. A perfect fit she might say.

The same sky as that day...

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Helllllllllooooooooo! Happy new year everyone! I'm hope this year will bring plenty of amazing chapters and stories for us!

Favorite, Follow, Review~


	10. Chapter 10

"It looks like it's gonna rain." Mirajane noted looking at the dark clouds in the distance.

"Yeah, and I haven't seen Lucy at all today." Levy said into her palm, laying her head on her desk. "Natsu either."

"Well you can't blame them..." Mira murmured sadly. It was Lucy's birthday today and neither their blonde friend or the pink idiot showed up. Thinking back to Natsu's words...she knew that all she could do is watch over her from a distance.

 _"I have an idea! Since you spend the night over with Lucy every year, how about we all come with you! That'll surely cheer her up!"_

Mira thought it was good idea and Levy quickly agreed. Even Gray and Erza, who she barely knew wanted to come. But Natsu...

 _"No... I appreciate what your trying to do but it would only make Lucy worry. It took a heck of a lot of convincing for her to let me stay with her and even now she tries to talk me out of it."_

 _"Common Natsu!" Levy said. "The Lu-chan I know loves to be around people who care about her! She just needs a push!"_

 _"The Lucy you know is an act."_

After he said that he left. What did he mean by an act? Who was the real Lucy she was hiding? Why was she hiding?

"I guess we really don't know Lucy that well huh?" Mira whispered.

"Well we did only meet this summer at her work. Natsu's known her longer than anyone else." Levy stated sitting up from her desk to walk over to Mira and look out the window.

'I hope she get's our message.' Mira thought.

...

Clouds blanketed the sky turning their city dark and grey. Rain fell from the sky in a haze, singing as they hit the ground. Lucy would have it any other way. For her, this was the perfect display of her emotions.

Lucy was sitting in Natsu lap staring at the ceiling inwith his arms wrapped around her waist, as if she'd disappear at any moment. This was how it was supposed to be. Natsu by her side alone in the world, just the two of them. He understood her better than anyone else, and she understood him. That's why no words were exchanged, they weren't needed. Lucy closed her eyes as Natsu silently ran his fingers through her hair. A slight blush stained her cheeks as she fell asleep.

Natsu watched her closely and gently rubbed her cheek. Resting his chin on her head he whispered, "Happy 15th birthday Lucy." Following her example and falling asleep.

When Lucy woke up Natsu was gone and she was alone in her bedroom. "Natsu?" She called. After a few moments of silence Lucy started to panic. "Natsu! Natsu, where are you!" Hearing the panic from the other room, Natsu came rushing in. Upon seeing him Lucy tried to get up and run to him but got tangled in the blankets and fell. Natsu helped her out and she immediately crushed him in a hug and started to cry. "Don't leave me..." Lucy whimpered. Natsu smiled and wrapped his arms around her, picking her up and carried her to the kitchen. "I won't." Even though Lucy was worried for his safety, he knew she didn't want to be left alone on this day.

Natsu set Lucy down on a chair, in front of her was a small cake from the store with a little 1 and 5 lit up on top. Natsu turned off the lights in the kitchen and got out his camera. He wasn't ggoing to sing happy birthday, they had a different tradition.

"So we can take the world back from a heart attack, one maniac at a time we will take it back." As Natsu began to sing Lucy could no long control the tears coming from her eyes, so she sang along. "You know time crawls on when your waiting for the song to start, so dance alone to the beat of your heart." And then Lucy blew out the candles. Natsu clapped and turned on the lights.

"Put on your war paint, Lucy." Natsu smiled.

"Thank you, Natsu." Lucy smiled.

"And now I have something to show you." Natsu pulled out his laptop and injected a dvd.

Opening media player he clicked the screen, playing the video.

When the image booted up it showed Levy and Mira in the school yard. "Happy birthday Lucy!" They shouted. Then Levy shoved herself in front of the screen. "Lu-chan , I know we haven't known each other for long but I hope you know that I think of you as my best friend and care for you so much!" Mira then pushed Levy out of the way. "Hello Lucy, like Levy said, I care for you to. Even though we haven't known each other long and I don't know you that well, I want to stay with you longer! And I know what my sister did hurt but I hope you can forgive her someday. Our parents aren't to thrilled she abused the power of the police department to get that stuff." Once again Levy pushed her out of the way to get back into the spot light. "Times up, Lucy I want you to know that you aren't as alone as you think-"

The screen turned black as Mira tackled Levy to the ground. Next in front of what seemed to be a door stood a young girl with long blue hair, Natsu's sister Wendy. "Hi Lucy-nee, it's been a long time since I've seen you and I miss you. I want to tell you that I'm fine and what happen wasn't your fault. I pray for you every day. How's school? Are the kids nice? Do you like your classes? I have so many questions and I hope I can see you soon." The screen turned black once again and opened up with what looked like an older version of Wendy. Grandeneey Dragneel.

"Happy birthday Sweetie." She said in a soft sweet voice. "I remember when you first born. Me and your mom were close friends but we had to move away for business. Natsu probably doesn't even remember seeing you as a baby, but when we moved back Natsu found you before I could even introduce you guys. Call it fate but I'm glad your best friends with my son. I'm sorry for the way things turned out, no kid should go what you did. I know that you blame what happened to Jude and Layla on yourself because you survived but I don't think that. Life will beat you up and down throw down but that's just life's way of toughening you up for the real challenge. Please know that your always welcome at our home. You've always been like a daughter to me and Igneel."

The video ended with a picture of her parents and her as a child with the words 'our pride and joy' above. Tears wildly fell down Lucy's eyes as she covered her mouth and sobbed, this time from joy. A tiny electric shock shot through her body as Natsu rubbed circles on her back. "I got you a little something to." Natsu said. Lucy looked over at him while he dug his hand in his pocket. He pulled out a necklace with a crescent moon and a starry sky.

"Turn around." Lucy obeyed and turned, lifting her hair. Natsu slid it around her neck and clipped it together. "Now open it." Lucy did as he said and opened the necklace and saw a picture of him and her in the park. They had taken a trip to the park this summer and had their picture taken buy a guy they stopped. She remembered that day fondly. On the other side was a note engraved in cursive. It said "Sun and Moon". Lucy looked up and before she could ask he pulled out another necklace that looked like the sun.

"I'm the sun and your the moon. Quite fitting huh?" Natsu grinned.

Natsu could tell it meant a lot to her, but he had no idea how much. This was now her favorite thing in the world, and she would never let it go.

"Yes... it is."

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Heyo! I'm sorry if their are any spelling errors. My tablet has been acting up and I don't have a laptop. :(

If their are mistakes I don't care because writing on a tablet is unbelievably frustrating.

And if you didn't get the happy birthday song look up the song The Phoenix by Fall Out Boy

I hope you enjoyed and I'm sorry if the chapter got to depressing at times.

Favorite, Follow, Review~


	11. Chapter 11

It had been two days since the Day had happened and everything was back to normal. Well kinda. By definition of normal, Lisanna is still making her life hell, people still avoid her like death, and she's learned to deal with it. After all... Natsu is all she really needs. He's her most important person.

Lucy looked down at her birthday present from said person and gave a ghostly smile.

"So Lucy... I heard you were gonna go back to work this week." Mira noted trying to catch the blonde's attention.

"Huh? Oh yeah, I am." She replied, not bothering to look up at her. Lucy had been in a daze all day, doing nothing but staring at the crescent moon necklace around her neck. Her and Mira were currently in the library, doing her daily routine of doing her homework while waiting for Natsu. Except Lucy wasn't doing her homework. Hell! She didn't even open her backpack.

"Lucy? Is something bothering you?" Mira asked in a concerned tone. Lucy looked up this for a brief moment then looked back down.

"No... It's just... for the first time in my life, I feel like... I'm not cursed." She murmured almost happily. Mira was just about to ask why when Natsu barged into the library, earning a glare from the librarian. On his chest on top of his uniform was a necklace almost similar to Lucy's, except it was the sun.

'The sun and moon' Mira thought. She then smirked and gave Lucy a knowing glance."Well I guess it's time for you two to head home." Mira chimed. Lucy blushed slightly and stood up before she headed over to her best friend, Mira stoped her and whispered in her ear, "This is your chance." She winked, Lucy's blush deepened.

Walking over to her partner in crime he rubbed her hair and put his arm around her shoulder. Natsu was not one for personal boundaries and she learned a long time ago, not to expect any meaning from simple gestures. Walking out of the school, the two took the path they were all to familiar with. Natsu stood on the side closest to the road, he never let her walk on that side anymore ever since a drunk driver almost plowed into her.

"So I heard your going to start up at the bakery again." Natsu stated flatly as they came to a stop at the crosswalk.

"It's a coffee shop." Lucy corrected, walking across the street.

Natsu rolled his eyes, "A coffee shop that is also a bakery." He muttered.

Now it was her turn to roll her eyes, "Yes I am starting up again. What with the college students going back to school it's gotten really busy. The only reason I was given time off was-"

"Because of Lisanna's stunt." He finished grimly.

"Well that and the day, your mother is very understanding and I'm glad she's my boss." She smiled, rubbing his back. Natsu looked very angry, he kept his eyes on the ground as he continued to walk.

"If it wasn't for me Lisanna wouldn't have- I'm sorry..." Natsu said solemnly, his face turned from anger to guilt. Lucy grabbed his hand and walked in front of him, stopping him in his tracks.

"I don't want to ever hear you blame my personal life on yourself. Karma just doesn't seem to like me." She said melancholy and put her hands on his shoulders. "This is on me."

Natsu looked into her eyes hesitantly. Out of nowhere, he pulled Lucy into a tight hug, causing her to turn completely red and stiff as a board. He noticed her stiffness but chose to ignore it.

"Let me take some of that load of your shoulders." He whispered into her hair. Lucy refused to hug back, she refused to put her best friend, and the one she loves, in danger.

"If I do you will get hurt." She muffled quietly pulling away. Natsu shook his head.

"I'm stronger than you look." He smirked. Lucy smile half heartedly and let her gaze fall.

"Sometimes I wonder why you still stand by my side, I'm nothing but bad luck." Now it was his turn to grab her shoulders. He gave her a glare so hard, it felt like he was drilling into her head.

"You are more important than you know, I would throw myself in front of a car if I had to. Your my best friend!" Lucy felt her heart race at his words, but flatten at the last four. Really, she shouldn't expect anything more. He would never see her like anything else. Lucy smiled and mouthed 'thank you' but didn't speak. Grabbing Natsu's hand in her own they continued on their way home. It was quiet now, but oddly comforting. She guessed it was because they've known each other for so long.

Just two blocks from her apartment, the silence was replaced with shouts from behind. The two turned around but Lucy was met instantly with a man on a skate board. They collided and fell on top of each other. Natsu rushed to their side but slowed down when he say their position, he felt a vein pop.

The man's face was buried in Lucy's breasts, his knee was in between her thighs, and one of his hands found their way to her ass. Lucy was too shocked to move and was a shade of red that could rival Erza's hair. While the man, he didn't look like he was planning on moving, Natsu even saw a almost invisible grin on his face. It was when the guy decided to push his luck and smell her when Natsu felt himself seething in rage. He stomped over to them and ripped him off of her, he looked about the same age as him, with short chestnut brown hair and forest green eyes. He wore a black and red uniform that resembled Natsu's blue and gold uniform, Raven Tail. Natsu shoved him out of the way and helped Lucy up off the ground. She was still in shock and honestly completely disgusted.

"Next time look where your going." Natsu spat at the guy, venom laced in his words.

"I didn't mean to fall on your girlfriend." He apologized. Natsu felt a hesitation in his body to respond.

"Oh? She's not yours?" He laughed cockily then strode closer to Lucy. She jerked away and hid behind Natsu. "Cute."

"Just get up right away when you fall on someone." He growled deeply. Natsu swung around, pulling Lucy with him, and trudged away from the creep. Unbeknownst to him, once he left the man pulled out a white phone with a pink sailor moon case, and bypassed the password with ease. He scrolled through her photos, contacts, and messages.

"Lucy Heartfilia huh?" He muttered to himself. A sickly sadistic smile crawled onto his face. "Looks like I just found the perfect one."

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Sorry for the short chapter! I try harder next time!

I can honestly say that this is by far my favorite story I have ever written.

The creep is actually another character from one of my previous stories. Can you guess who it is?

Until next time laddies!

Favorite, Follow, Review~


	12. Chapter 12

"Guess what guys!" Mira shouted as she walked into Lucy's classroom. Before they could guess she shouted, "I just got a date for homecoming on Saturday!" She squealed bouncing around. "Guess who it is!"

"Laxus?" Levy guessed. Lucy didn't say anything and just watched her friend prance around like an idiot. It was clear she really liked this guy.

"Yesss!" She squealed jumping up and down. By now everyone in the class was staring at the three. A few glares were shot at Lucy, which didn't go unnoticed by her.

"You'll be bringing Gajeel, right Levy?" Mira grinned. Levy blushed and quickly denied her but Mira continued to interrogate the bluenette. Lucy started off into space as she watched the clouds roll by. Since she was an eighth grader going into eleventh grade this would be Lucy's first homecoming. It was Thrusday, the homecoming game was tomorrow and the dance was on Saturday. It was supposed to be last week but the lack of hands in the Homecoming Committee set it back a week along with some schedule mix-ups for the game. You can bet plenty of people blamed it on Lucy. Even so, she would love to go with Natsu to the dance as his date but...

"Your going with Natsu aren't you Lucy." Mira asked. The glares grew stronger at her innocent question.

"Umm.. Uh well." Lucy knew she shouldn't go. Her bad karma would only ruin the dance one way or another. This curse affected her life and the lives of those around her. But she would never let it show. Instead she just smiled and put on a fake mask that everything was alright. Only Natsu knew better than to believe that smile.

"Nope." Lucy smiled happily. "I have a report to finish so I can't."

"You can do that after!" Mira brushed off her excuse.

Lucy shook her head, still holding her smile. "I also want to get a head start in U.S. History so I'm gonna finish next week's chapter and revise last week's. Plus I have work scheduled for that day at the Coffee Shop." She told her. Mira rolled her eyes and stopped pressing forward.

"Whatever you say." She shrugged. "Have to get to class. See you!" She called as she ran out the door. Lucy sighed in relief and looked out the window.

Mira was a senior but they shared a few classes. She definitely went out of her way to see Lucy and/or Levy before every period. It got annoying at times but Lucy was grateful to have her as a friend.

The day had come and gone, she didn't get much time to spend with Natsu as his fans swarmed him all day. So Lucy had some freetime to spend with Levy at lunch. In which she spent researching information on the milky way galaxy in the library while Levy absorbed her self in a new book. It had always been Lucy's dream to become a astronomer and to make that happen she studied extra hard. But of course studying got harder when Natsu introduced her to Anime. If not video games were distracting enough.

Since Lucy started work up again she would head their right after school and work until six. Natsu usually comes in around five then bugs her for an hour til he walks her home. She was happy they still got to walk together.

Natsu was way more protective then usual. It started about the day after they had their run in with that creep. Lucy also lost her phone around that time to. She called it many times on Natsu's phone but no one ever answered. She was really hoping she would find it because she really didn't have the money to buy a new one.

Speaking of creeps, Lucy had a nagging feeling that someone was stalking her. She would glance over her shoulder and swear she saw someone duck out of sight. The feeling even followed her into her apartment. It had gotten so bad that Lucy had to lock all of her windows, keep the curtains closed at all times, and use all three locks on her door. She usually only used the one on the door handle but this inspirational fear made her take extremes. Natsu even volunteered to stay at her place until this problem blew away. For extra precaution, Natsu gave her a bottle of pepper spray to arm herself.

Wanting to make sure she stayed safe, Natsu had asked Levy to walk her to her work for the rest off the football season. Until he could walk her himself.

The amount of care and worry for her safety that he showed was just one of the reasons Lucy had fallen so hard.

Time went by fast and the shop was bustling with costumers. Lucy was so busy taking orders at the counter that she didn't hear Natsu call her name. Deciding to leave her be, Natsu got him self a set and unlocked this phone, scrolling through Facebook waiting for her shift to end. Only forty minutes until six.

Five minutes before she could leave Lucy handled her last customer. A chill ran down her spin as she turned around to see the guy she had collided with. She froze. He grinned.

"Tall white chocolate mocha, iced." He said coldly. Lucy was still frozen and couldn't move. It was like she was put under a spell and was denied any movement. His eyes watched her intently and a malicious smile creeper up his face. It wasn't until her co-worker snapped her out of her trance that she could function correctly again.

"N-Name?" She asked.

"Kai." He answered in an undertone voice. It was like everything he said had an entirely different meaning.

Lucy wrote his name on a cup with shaky hands and went to prepare his drink. Natsu had watched the entire scene. He kept a close eye on the stranger. There was something weird about him.

Lucy brought the man his drink and quickly stepped away from him, earning queer looks from her coworkers. She gave a light bow and said, "Thank you for coming." But left out the 'please come again part'. She honestly hoped he never came to the shop again.

Taking off her apron, Lucy walking into the back room/ break room and opened her locker. She grabbed her school bag and quickly changed back into her school uniform be hind the curtain. When she came out from behind it what she saw her shocked her so much she almost fell over.

Her phone was sitting in the center of the table with a note under it. Lucy put her phone in her pocket and slowly took the note and opened it up.

 _I've been watching you_

Lucy cried out and backpeadled and slammed into the lockers. Tears brimmed her eyes and she trembled violently. Natsu barged into the room and pulled Lucy into his arms. Repeatedly asking her what had happened. But Lucy was so frightened she could think straight and left his question unanswered. Lucy blacked out.

...

The bright light of the emergency room woke Lucy in a daze. Waking up in an unfamiliar room caused Lucy to once again go into a panic. Natsu was immediately at her side, using calming words in order to cool her down. Once she was soothed down Lucy started to cry and pulled him into a shockingly strong hug.

"Someone is... Someone... watching..." She fought to find her words but her jumbled mind prevented her from doing so.

"It's ok, it's ok." Natsu shushed her. He grabbed both sides of her face to gain her attention. "Now I'm gonna show you something and I want you to me what it is okay?" He asked patiently. Lucy nodded her head and took a deep breath. Natsu reached into his pocket and pulled out hi the note from before. "What is this?" He asked quietly but Lucy could hear anger in his voice and see fire in his eyes.

"It..it's a note... I found with my... phone." She scattered.

"Where did into come from?" He asked more intensely.

"I don't k-know." Lucy said more wholly.

Natsu stood up and gently rubbed her head. "Get some sleep, they'll discharge you in the morning." Lucy smiled lightly. Natsu saw it. The fear behind the mask she put on. He knew she only did it to put him at ease, but when a threat this big appears he can't let his guard down for a second in fear of Lucy getting hurt.

Walking into the hallway, Natsu pulled out his phone and dialed a number he new all to well. "Gray, it's Natsu, get Erza, Mira and Levy and come to the hospital now. We have some ass kicking to do."

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Sorry it took so long. I'm a bit busy as usual.

And sorry I used an OC, I've used this guy in two of my other stories so my friend convinced me to bring him into this story.

Hope y'all enjoyed!

Favorite, Follow, Review~


	13. Chapter 13

Natsu sat at a circular table in the hospital's cafeteria surrounded by Gray, Erza, Mira, Levy, and Gajeel. He had just finished explaining the situation.

"Oh no..." Mira said into her hands, a look of horror on her face.

"This guy seems pretty demented. Stalking a girl like that is just creepy." Gajeel shared his thoughts. Several of the others nodded in agreement. Though some of them there, namely Gajeel and Erza, didn't know Lucy that well, a friend of Natsu's was a friend of theirs.

"Do you know who the mystery person is?" Erza questioned him. Natsu shook his head and looked at his hands.

"I'm not exactly sure..." He said, his voice shaking, Natsu was trembling maniacally. Not from fear, but from pure, immutable, searing rage. "But who ever it is... I'll personally turn 'em to ash." He spat menacingly. A red fire seemed to burn in his eyes, hardened with bloodlust. No one had ever seen Natsu act like this before, it was the complete opposite of his normal carefree attitude.

"Well anyway we need to focus on protecting Lu-chan." Levy started the conversation up again.

"Yes. Someone should be with her at all times." Erza agreed.

"Lucy's not gonna like that." Natsu interrupted. "She's used to keeping a wall up around others and likes her space." He informed them.

"But she's find around us." Mira argued.

"And you always invade her space!" Levy agreed.

Natsu shook his head and looked up at the group. "I knew Lucy before she became an introvert. She's never had more than two friends at a time including me. She won't let herself get to close to a person in fear of hurting them with her so called 'curse'." He enlightened the others on Lucy's feelings.

"If that's the case then why does she have no problem being around you?" Gray inquired shirtless from the other side of the table. Everyone present looked over to Natsu expectantly.

"Because we're inseparable." Natsu said matter-of-factly. Mira squealed and bounced in her seat but Natsu paid no attention to her antics. "What's important now is finding the culprit. Erza," Natsu turned to his red haired friend and handed over the note Lucy found in a Ziploc bag. "Your family works for the police department, do you think this will help you find the man in question?" Erza took the bag from him and inspected the note.

"Most likely, I could find some traces of fingerprints." She concluded. Natsu nodded and thanked her. He then turned over to Levy.

"Levy, can you do a search of male students 11th to 12th grade from Raven Tail High? I have a feeling our creeper goes there." Natsu stated seriously.

"Of course!" Levy accepted the task he gave her. "But why there?" She asked.

Natsu looked into his hands for a second before answering her question. "Because the same day Lucy lost her phone, and the day it showed up again, we ran into a guy wearing their uniform." Natsu responded.

Gray slammed his hand on the tabled and abruptly stood up, his chair falling in the process. "Well if you know who it is then why the hell are just sitting around?!" The shirtless teen shouted, earning a few stares from the other patients.

"Sit down." Erza commanded and Gray obliged immediately. "Though it is a major coincidence. There is still no direct proof that the man Natsu ran into is the culprit." Erza explained and took a bite of her strawberry cake.

"Erza's right Gray." Levy agreed. "We need to do a proper search first. In the meantime, no matter how she may feel about it, Lu-chan cannot be left alone." She finished then everyone at the table turned to Natsu.

"Natsu?" Mirajane spoke up. Natsu looked over at her. "Me and Levy can look after her during school. It's up to you to look after her after school. Perhaps she can stay at your house for a while?" Mira suggested. Natsu nodded back in agreement. 'Lucy won't like it, but if it's for her safety...'

"But what about the game tomorrow?" Gajeel asked the group.

"I'll watch over Lu-chan till the game is over." Levy volunteered.

"I'm gonna leave now." Natsu stated standing up. "I'll get in touch with your progress in a few hours." Not waiting to here their response Natsu headed for the door and left. The others shrugged and dispersed as well.

Natsu headed up the stairs too the fourth floor and headed for Lucy's room. Room 804 Heartfilia was displayed on the plaq to the right of the door. Natsu pushed the door open and walked in. Lucy was asleep on the hospital bed in the center of the room. He tread slowly up to her bedside and sat himself down in a chair next her. He took her hand and held it close to him.

"I'm so sorry..." He whispered, letting a single tear fall. "I couldn't protect you." Natsu thought back two a day long ago, one which he would never forget.

 _A smaller and much younger version of Natsu ran around the park in the sunlit field, he was about eleven years old. He kicked a red ball around and pretended he was on a team. A small sweet voice suddenly interrupted his game._

 _"Can I play with you?" Natsu looked up and saw a little blonde girl in a pink dress in front of him. Lucy was eight years old._

 _"Hey Lucy!" He greeted her. "I don't think you can play in a dress."_

 _"I can to!" She pouted. Natsu chuckled and kicked the ball over too her. Lucy kicked it back with her little black dress shoes. The two children continued to play with the red ball and laughed while doing so._

 _"Common Lucy, you kick like a girl!" Natsu laughed before she was about to give her serve._

 _"I am a girl!" Lucy corrected him._

 _"Well then you kick like a baby!" He shouted from the other side of the field._

 _"I do not!" She yelled back._

 _"Baby! Baby!" He taunted. Lucy huffed and kicked the ball as hard as she could. The ball flew through the air and bounced off a tree, hitting a random group of older boys, who looked to be in middle school, in the head. They turned around and grabbed the red ball._

 _"Who threw this ball?" The middle one with blonde spiky hair and a scar over his right eye yelled. He looked around and his eyes fell on Natsu."Was it you?" He questioned picking Natsu up by his shirt._

 _"So what if I did?" Natsu retorted. The blonde threw Natsu on the ground and kicked him in the gut. The boy's friends joined in and started beating up Natsu._

 _"Stop it!" Lucy screamed as she tried to pull them away from him. The blonde turned around and looked at the crying Lucy._

 _"Geez your annoying." He grumbled and kicked Lucy away from him. "Why don't you just go play with your dolls?"_

 _Lucy sniffled and wiped blood away from her nose. When Natsu saw the blood dripping her nose, he immediately pushed the other two boys off him and punched the blonde in the face._

 _"You can hurt me all you want. But if you dare put a scratch on Lucy I'll burn you to a crisp!"_

Natsu ended up losing the fight that day. But with that defeat he gained a new purpose. He swore to himself that he'd become stronger and stronger. So no one could ever hurt Lucy again. Natsu had been her only friend to stay by her side no matter what and he'll be damned if he ever left her. He promised he'd never abandon her like her previous 'friends' did. Even if he endded up in the ground.

Because that's what you do when your in love.

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I freaking love this story! Thank you for spending you valuable time reading it because i have a lot of fun writing it

Boom! Natsu's feelings revealed! Please remember to leave a review before you go!

Favorite, Follow, Review~


	14. Chapter 14

"What!? No!" Lucy refused crudely. Lucy had woken up just a little over half an hour ago and was getting ready to be discharged from the hospital. It was 6:58 AM. Natsu stayed overnight at the hospital and ended up falling asleep on a chair at her bedside. School was in an hour and Natsu had to go. He had just broke the news that she would be staying over at his house until this was over.

"It's for your own safety. We can't allow you to be alone while the psycho is on the loose and is out to get you." Natsu reasoned with her, but she just huffed and looked away, her stubbornness kicking in. When she got like this, Lucy could be as stubborn, if not more, a mule. Natsu sighed and stood up from his seat.

"My mom will be here in about twenty minutes or so." Natsu rubbed her head then headed for the door. "I have to go, be careful and don't you dare go out on your own."

At the sound of the door shutting Lucy stood up from her bed. She knew Natsu was simply trying to protect her, but it just made her feel useless and like a burden. She made a mess wherever she went and Natsu always had to clean up after her. She really was a black cat of misfortune.

Picking up her clothes Levy left her in a bag, Lucy went into the connected bathroom to her hospital room and changed.

...

Lucy walked out over the double doors and saw a middle-aged woman with dark blue hair and hazel eyes waiting for her. She stood by an older yellow bug and wore a long light green dress.

"Oh Lucy dear! There you are!" She called out when she noticed Lucy. She immediately swarmed her and checked her body for injuries.

"Are you hurt? Do you feel well? I got a call from Natsu that you were at the hospital. What happened?! You look so pale! Have you been eating right? I'll give you a raise at the shop if that will help?" The woman rambled on and on while Lucy just smiled and laughed it off. It was nice to see that she hadn't changed.

"Nice to see you Grandeeney. I'm fine, just a little tired." Lucy waved her off with a smile. Out of nowhere the woman grabbed both her shoulders and started to shake her back and forth.

"Have you been over working yourself again? I heard you collapsed from exhaustion! Ugh! The one day I decided to leave the shop in Maria's hands this happens! If only I was there!" Grandeeney stopped shaking Lucy and pulled her into a bone crushing hug. "What would Layla say if you got hurt under my care?" She whispered, more to herself than to Lucy.

Lucy pushed her away and gave her a grateful, yet sad smile. Grandeeney had done so much for her she would never be able to pay her back completely. And seeing her now, fusing over her like a mother would, it made her heart swell. Lucy didn't want to stay over with the Dragneels because she didn't want a repeat of what happened five years ago when she nearly cost Grandeeney's and Wendy's lives.

"You've been doing a great job." Lucy said to her. "Even after I moved out you offered me a job and let me take days off to study or when I'm having trouble in school." Lucy gently walked up to her and hugged her gently. "Thank you..." After some small hesitation, Grandeeney hugged the blonde back.

A sudden chill ran down Lucy's spine and she went cold. Lucy slowly looked behind her and saw a dark figure watching her from inside the parking garage. She couldn't make out any key features but held his cold gaze. The figure's eyes seemingly turned her to stone and restricted any movement.

"Lucy?" A gentle call snapped her out of her trance. She was drenched in a cold sweat and shaking. She looked up at Grandeeney's worried face then shot a look over to the car garage but the figure was gone.

"I'm sorry... let's just get in the car." Lucy said and hurriedly opened the door and got in. Grandeeney looked at her in doubt but got in nonetheless and drove off. It looked like Natsu didn't tell his mom about the stalker issue.

As soon as the yellow bug turned off onto the road a cloaked figure in a hoodie stepped out and smirked. It removed its hood to reveal a teenage boy with dark brown hair and green eyes, cold and hard watching the car leave. "Think changing locations will stop me?" He grinned devilishly and turned away, walking down through the garage.

"We've set our sights on you and you can't escape."

...

As the bell sounded throughout the building, students flooded the hallways to leave school and head home. Not him. As soon as the bell rang Natsu bounded up and ran down to the library. Where he would be having a short meeting before the game with Erza and Levy. When he arrived he saw the two were already there waiting for him at a round table. Natsu joined them and began the session.

"Okay so the only lead we have is the guy I ran into on the street that also was at the cafe the day of the incident." He started off pointing out his suspicion.

"But that still isn't enough. We need valid evidence." Erza stated.

"But how do you catch a stalker?" Levy asked. They became silent. They each knew what they were thinking.

"We're not using Lucy as bait." Natsu said firmly, breaking the temporary silence. "We'll just have to get creative." Everyone nodd. Neither willing to disagree with him because of the intensity he was giving off.

"For now I will continue to search through Raven Tail's student body according to your suspicion. Erza, can you search through the MPD's archives to see if any students have any crime related to our situation?" Levy popped up. Erza nodded in agreement.

"I'll watch over Lu-chan tonight while your at the game. Then you can take over." She turned over Natsu.

"I'm counting on you Levy." Natsu said.

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Sorry for the weird ending I didn't know how to end this chapter.

WARNING: The next few chapters may get dark

But I promise it will clear up once the stalker is caught

See you over the nearest rainbow!

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	15. Chapter 15

Lucy sat on the corner of the bed in her new (temporary) room she was given in the Dragneel household. Resting he head on Levy's tiny shoulder, they watched the football game online at their school's website. So far we were winning against our rival school, Saber Tooth, 18-6. Levy had accidentally fallen asleep after the game and didn't notice Lucy climbed out the window and onto the roof. She used to do this quite often with Natsu when she stayed at their house before she moved out. Making herself comfortable on top of the shingles, Lucy stargazed the night sky for constellations. She instantly found Libra then Scorpio. She remembered some old stories her mother used to tell her about the zodiac, most of them she was sure her mother made up at the time. Unconsciously Lucy began to sing a song her mother would sing to her when she couldn't fall asleep.

 _Words are born into air_

 _And quickly fade out in the wind_

 _But they find there way inside of you_

 _Where they live on for ever more~_

"I haven't heard you sing that song in a long time." A masculine voice interrupted jolted up and wiped around to see Natsu setting himself next to her and lay down. "Don't mind me." He told her, encouraging her to keep singing.

After a few moments of hesitation, Lucy laid down next to him, thankful that the darkness of the night hid her blush.

 _When the skys are dark and full of rain_

 _Look inside your heart~_

 _A light so warm will come and glow_

 _Shining just like the sun_

 _You can see just how much you've grown_

 _How strong you are~_

 _A rose will open up to you_

 _And it starts from the day that you_

 _...first heard those words~_

Natsu wrapped his arm around her waist and listened to her soft, sweet voice. He always loved hearing her sing but it was such a rare occurrence, he wished he could hear it more. Once Lucy finished her lullaby Natsu closed his eyes and sighed. He felt completely useless as Lucy began to cry into his shirt. He wanted to do more for her but didn't know how.

"I'm sorry." He whispered to her.

Lucy wiped away her tears to look up at him. "Huh?"

"I want to do more for you. But it seems that all I can do is support you from the sidelines." He confessed, a nearly invisible tint of pink on his cheeks. Lucy however didn't notice.

Lucy smiled and gently placed her hand on his cheek. Natsu looked down at her surprised.

"Just stay by my side, that's all you have to do. In return, I'll stay by yours." She whispered.

A long minute of silence followed, but it wasn't an uncomfortable silence. Lucy grabbed Natsu's hand as she began to fall asleep. Thinking Lucy was sleeping, Natsu leaned down to kiss her cheek. But before he could, her phone went off, waking her up.

"What are you doing?" She asked when she saw he was right next to her face.

"Well I-I was just uh... stretching out and uh-was slipping down the roof so..." Lucy giggled and waved him off.

"Jeez no need for you to get flustered." She laughed while sitting up. She pulled out her phone and flipped it open to see a text message in the top corner of the screen. She opened it up and nearly fell of the roof at what she saw.

 _You can't hide._

Noticing Lucy's sudden change he tried to peek at her phone but she hid it away from him.

The phone buzzed once again. Lucy took a peek.

 _Look ahead._

Scared, but curious, Lucy looked into the street in front of the house. Parked to the side on the other side of the street. The same man from the cafe sat in a blackish blue van, staring directly at her. Paralyzed with fear, Lucy couldn't remove her eyes from him. It was if she was put under a spell. She didn't know how much time passed as she was locked on him but she was awakened by her phone buzzing once more.

 _Found you._

Letting out a scream Lucy scrambled to get inside the house through the window. Her screaming had awoken Levy and brought Natsu's family into her room. Natsu tried to comfort her and calm her down but she wasn't listening. To her, she was all alone in her own little world.

Screaming eventually turning into whimpering, Lucy lay under her covers cowering while Levy rubbed her back.

"That's it Natsu! I demand an explanation!" Grandeeney said firmly. Natsu and his parents had left Lucy and gone into the kitchen to talk. "Earlier today Lucy was acting strange, this can't be a coincidence."

Natsu fidgeted in his seat, not wanting to tell them what was going on. But they did have a right to know since he was the one who brought them to their home.

Sighing, Natsu confessed. "Someone is kind of... stalking Lucy and found out where she lived, so we wanted to move her somewhere else. But it seems he found her again."

"A stalker!?" Grandeeney became hysterical. "We have to get the cops right away!"

"No mom! Lucy doesn't what to get the authorities involved!" Natsu tried to stop his mother from grabbing her cellphone.

"Lucy's safety is more important at the moment!" Grandeeney countered and snatched her phone from his hand but was grabbed from her by her husband.

"I agree with Natsu, you know how Lucy hates troubling people." Igneel reasoned with his wife. Grandeeney huffed and stopped away.

"If you want to risk her safety then be my guest! But I won't sit around when Lucy is in danger." Grandeeney slammed the door to her bedroom and locked the door. Natsu fell into the couch and ran a hand through his hair.

"Don't be mad at you mother." Igneel patted his shoulder and sat next to him. "She's just trying to keep her promise to Layla."

"Promise?" Natsu repeated.

Igneel nodded and looked into his hands. "When we were in high school with Lucy's parents Grandeeney and Layla were best friends. But Layla was being forced to move by her parents-"

"What does this have to do with Lucy?" Natsu interrupted.

"I'm getting to that." Igneel pulled his ear. "You see at that same time your mother became pregnant with you. Layla was torn about not being able to be there for her friend so the two made a promise. If anything were to happen to either of them in the future, they would care for whatever child was left behind." Igneel paused, seemingly lost in his own memories. He took a deep breath before continuing. "That's why your mother is so gung ho about protecting her."

Natsu looked away. He didn't know what to say. Igneel sighed, patted his head, and walked away.

He couldn't do anything. He was to busy depending on others to catch this guy while he just sat on his ass. Natsu wanted to help protect her, he just didn't know how.

"I really am useless."

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REVIEW! Just saying...

I feel like this story is getting dark... but who said it'd be all flowers and sunshine? (Evil laugh)

Don't expect the next update any time soon. (I have a life you know)

Thank you to all my readers and favouriters (I don't know why you like my stories so much...)

Till next time which is not soon but with in the time span of a month!

Favorite, Follow, Review~


	16. Chapter 16

It was Saturday night and the homecoming dance was in full swing. Mirajane was happily sipping punch while she chatted with Laxus. Gray was being pulled onto the dance floor reluctantly by his girlfriend Juvia; and Gajeel and Levy sat off to the side awkwardly. Everything was perfect.

Except for at the Dragneel residence. Grandeeney tried desperately to get Lucy into a dress and out the door.

"Come on Lucy!" She begged the teen. "It's your first high school dance! You have to go!"

"No I don't wanna!" Lucy winned from behind the bathroom door. She had locked herself inside in order to get away from the crazy woman.

"But you can't miss your first dance, it's every girls dream!" The older woman reasoned.

"No!"

To say Lucy was disobedient and rude was farthest from the truth. Unless you tried to get her around a special occasions surrounded by a large number of people. Lucy could handle going to school or working in a public place; she's used to that. But taking her to a school dance is far out of her comfort zone.

"Mom if she doesn't want to go, she doesn't want to go." Natsu stepped in, trying to settle his mom down.

"But she doesn't know what she's missing!" Grandeeney countered. "She must go!"

"Grandeeney!" Igneel said firmly, almost at a shout. The bluenette backed away from the door quietly.

Natsu stepped up and gave the door two quick knocks. "Lucy? It's Natsu. I'll be waiting on the roof when you wanna come out." There was no reply. Excusing himself, he left the hall and into his room; where the sound of the window opening and footsteps on the roof could be heard.

After he left the two parents decide to leave to have a talk downstairs. Ten minutes later Lucy cracked open the door and peered out into the hallway. Seeing that the coast was clear, she walked into her room and hopped out the window and climbed onto the roof where she saw Natsu laying down, listening to his IPod aloud.

No words were exchanged as she crawled over to him and rested her head on his chest. As she settled down, Natsu decided to run his fingers through her hair. For a moment he felt complete. That is until Lucy spoke up in a whisper.

"Why do I destroy everything around me?" She murmured.

He sighed before speaking. "You don't destroy anything. Nothing is your fault." He responded in a hushed whisper.

"Maybe not physically but everything seems to go wrong when I'm around. Things break, people are hurt-"

"Lucy." Natsu interrupted strongly. The blonde lifted her head in response and looked into his eyes. "You are so much more than what you believe. Your past will only make your future stronger."

Lucy gave him a half-hearted smile. "Okay. You're right." She didn't really believe him, but she told him that to make him think that she did. Settling down the two sat once again in silence while the music filled the music filled the air

 _No matter what I have to protect Natsu... He's all I have left._

Whatever Grandeeney and Igneel talked about the other night it had completely changed the mother of two.

"And this is in case your hurt, this is in case your attacked, can never be too careful; and this is in case your hungry; this is in case your thirsty, always have to be prepared for anything; and this is in case you get lost-"

"Um, Grandeeney?" Lucy interrupted. "Isn't this a little much? I'm just going to school."

Grandeeney had just given Lucy a care package when she was about to leave the house for "emergencies". It was filled with pepper spray; a whistle; a first aid kit; an apple; a water bottle; and finally, a map of the entire city.

"My dear there are crazies everywhere you go! And your such a pretty young lady. You must be prepared." She said sternly.

"Mom just let her take the whistle and she'll be fine." Natsu groaned, waiting by the door.

"How can you say that? Wendy takes her care package to school everyday, and you don't see her complaining." The mom huffed.

"I will take the whistle and pepper spray if that will make you happy?" Lucy suggested.

Grandeeney thought it over for a second before nodding in agreement.

"Okay, just come home in one piece. I can give you leave from work if you want?" Lucy shook her head before giving her a hug.

"No, it's okay. I can come into work today."

Lucy grabbed her back pack and walked out the door with Natsu right behind her.

"Don't forget to take your medicine!" Grandeeney shouted out in the background.

The two teenagers walked in silence for a few blocks. Natsu feeling uncomfortable, and Lucy walking a few steps ahead, stuck in her own world.

"You've not really gonna take those meds are ya?" Natsu asked, breaking the silence.

"If needed." She answered back, saying no more.

The doctor had prescribed medication to her once again to keep her panic attacks under control. This wasn't the first time Lucy had been on medication. Few years ago, Lucy was taking pills to control the panic attacks and anxiety she got whenever someone around her got hurt. She was so convinced she was causing it she'd start to panic and lock herself in her room away from everyone. It was so bad she would come out for hours, sometimes days. It took quite awhile for her to finally calm down and handle the situation better.

Mom had offered her a job at her shop to try to get Lucy used to being around others again, and though there were accidents, Lucy no longer freaked out about it like she once had. She also got to prove her intelligence when she skipped two grades and move from eight grade to eleventh.

But now all that has started up again. She's skittish and blames herself for what's happening.

Natsu wants to help her but just can't seem to get through to her any more. She won't listen and pushes him away in order to "protect" him from danger.

 _Whoever this guy is he's gonna pay big time!_

"Natsu..." Lucy's sudden voice broke his thoughts.

"Yeah?" He responded shortly.

She didn't answer right away, but instead looked to the sky. The clouds were grey and becoming darker, a storm was brewing.

"This man is dangerous." Lucy whispered.

"What do you mean?" He asked, feeling tense.

"I don't know how to explain it... but something about that guy isn't right. It's as if his entire existence screams danger." She paused again. Natsu struggle to understand where she was going with this.

"I don't want the cops involved in case the media find out and publicized the situation. I also don't want anyone to get hurt." She took a moment to look back at him. "Especially you."

"Where are you going with this, Lucy?" Natsu questioned her.

Lucy took a deep breath. "If anything happens to me, I want you to save yourself and don't come after me." Natsu stopped walking abruptly and gazed at her in horror.

"What are you saying?" He asked her quietly but quickly raised his voice. "YOU THINK I COULD EVER SIT ON MY ASS WHILE I KNEW YOU WERE HURT?!" He roared at her. Lucy flinched at his tone and looked at the ground. "Do you not trust me?!" He quieted down but still held a firm and furious tone. Lucy shook her head no. "Then what is it!"

"I'm afraid you'll be killed!" Lucy shouted back at him. "I don't want anymore blood on my hands."

Natsu calmed down when he saw her crying face. He shouldn't have yelled at her. Inching closer he wrapped his arms around her waist.

"I'm a lot stronger than you think you know. I won't go down that easily."

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So this update came a lot later than I thought it would. No excuses will be made I was just to lazy.

Shit will get real beyond this point. You have been warned! Muahahahaha!

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	17. Chapter 17

School went by slowly as Natsu, lost in a sea of thoughts, watched the clock as time slipped away. Lucy had been avoiding him ever since their fight that morning. Seriously just what was she thinking? Telling him to abandon her like that, it was completely ridiculous! He ended up asking Mira during break too keep an eye on her for him since she wouldn't let him watch over her. Even if they were fighting, Natsu couldn't risk Lucy's safety. Lucy ment to much to Natsu to risk her life over a petty argument.

Currently, he was making his way too the library to speak with Erza and Levy to hear their findings on this creep. Natsu slammed the door open and was pierced with several glares and "shh"s, but ignored them and walked up to the redhead and bluenette.

"Hey Erza, Levy, find anything?" He greeted, skipping to the point.

"Indeed we have." Erza responded. "I went through the MPD's archives and found this," she gave Natsu a small file to look at himself. Inside was a picture of an old looking man with dark brown hair and green eyes. "His name is Sho Wang. He's been arested for harboring drugs but broke out two years ago. He is also suspected for dealing in human trafficking under intense evidence." She stated.

"Next is Kai Chin." Levy reported. "The guy your suspicious of has also been sent to jail for drug abuse."

"Okay... but what does this have to do with our guy?" Natsu questioned. Erza then pulled out another picture, on of the guy he ran into and the same one who was at Lucy's work.

"Look familiar? Sho is reported to have a son but no picture was provided. Kai Chin is a senior reported to have been charged with not only drug abuse, but assault and drunk driving as well, but was bailed out by an unknown source. Although not confirmed, I believe Kai is Sho's son. Which means the man after Lucy may be in the business of selling humans." Erza concluded.

"So you mean this jackass is trying to get his hands on Lucy so he can _sell_ her?!"

"It's a possibility." Said Levy.

"I know Lucy doesn't want the police involved, but that is no longer an option if we've found a lead on Sho Wang." The redhead stated in an apologizing way.

Natsu was shocked to say the least, he never expected that this stalker was THIS bad. He didn't know what to think, thousands of thoughts and images came to mind. He didn't know what to feel, hundreds of conflicting emotions swarmed him.

"I'm not gonna let that happen." Storming out of the library, Erza calling after him, Natsu ran to go find Lucy. Even if she was with Mira,He couldn't be calm until he knew she was safe.

Pulling out his phone, Natsu quickly punched in her number and impatiently waited for her to pick up as the endless chorus of rings ran through his ears. After what seemed like a millennium, Mira picked up with her usual sweet voice.

"Hello?" She greeted questionably.

"Mira! Is Lucy with you? Is she okay?" Natsu practically screamed in worry.

"Woah Natsu calm down! She's not with you?" Mira questioned him.

"No, where is she?!" He panicked.

"Lucy left to go apologize to you half an hour ago. I thought she was with you." The upperclassmen explained.

"No she isn't with me." Natsu told his friend. _Damn it Lucy! Why can't you just listen to what I say!_ "Thanks Mira!" He said before ending the call abruptly. Natsu had no time for small talk, he _had_ to find Lucy before anything bad happened to her.

...

*44 Minutes Earlier*

Lucy stood behind the counter at her job washing dirty, used plates and cups. Mira sat on the other side of the counter, talking about her new relationship with Laxus. The blonde, however, wasn't listening and was too busy with her own thoughts and worries to hear her friend talking.

"ucy..."

"Lucy..."

"Lucy!" Mirajane shouted in the stressing blonde's ear, causing her to jolt up and drop the mug she was cleaning.

"Crap!" Lucy swore under her breath and knelt down to pick up the glass shards.

"Are you okay?" The older girl asked in worry.

Lucy, who was on the floor collecting glass and putting it on a tray, answered solemnly in a quiet voice, "Yeah, I'm fine... just a little tired."

"You sure? This doesn't have anything with well I don't know..." Mira paused for a second. "A fight with Natsu?"

Lucy, who just stood up with her tray full of glass, dropped her tray full of glass. "H-h-how d-did you know?" Lucy asked in surprise.

"Natsu told Gray, who told Gajeel, who told Laxus, who told me." She answered in order.

"Oh..." was all the blonde could say.

"Wanna tell me about it?"

And so Lucy spilled the beans, telling Mira everything. Her worries that Natsu may be hurt because of her, the trouble she's bringing upon her friends, and her request that Natsu stay out of it for his own good.

"Have you ever thought that Natsu just wants to keep you safe?" Mirajane suggested when she finished talking (and pick up the glass once again).

"Of course I've thought about that! But that's not the issue!" Lucy challenged. "The issue is that Natsu has spent these past years making sure I was safe and happy. He even broke up with his girlfriend for me!" Lucy wailed, which brought attention over to them for the third time in the past ten minutes. "I just want to be able to watch out for him for once, instead of bringing him trouble."

"Lucy, you know what kind of guy Natsu is. He'd do that for any of his friends or family. But to him you are both family and friend, he will always but you before him." Mira reassured the emotional teen.

"...Your right, I should apologize." Lucy smiled and hugged her from across the counter. "Thanks Mira-san."

"Your welcome Lucy."

The blonde then took off her apron and walked over to her employer, Grandeeney. Who was in her office doing paper work.

"Hey Grandeeney, do you mind if I take the rest of the day off?" Lucy asked sweetly.

"Not at all hon, if you aren't feeling 100% just tell me." Grandeeney smiled.

"Thank you... I'll miss you." Lucy whispered quietly then left. She quickly pulled out a pen and paper and wrote a note for him, leaving it on her locker door for him.

But before she left, she made a phone call.

 _This time I'll be the one to look out for you._

*Back to the present*

Lucy walked through South Gate park as the sun started to set. Rift raft flocked to the grounds and caused Lucy to become uncomfortable, she never been out this late on her own. But she was determined to face this man alone, using herself as bait was the best way to do it.

As the final rays of light left the horizon, a figure made it's way over to Lucy. She sat patiently, not making a move to escape.

"You aren't going to run?" The figure asked.

"There's no point, you'll catch me anyway." She answered strongly, only wavering for a moment. As the park lamps turned on due to the darkness, light shone on the figure, reveling it to be the same man who she bummed into, came to her work, and has been watching her ever since.

"Are you afraid of me?" He asked with a sick grin.

"Terrified."

Just as the man reached out his hand to touch her, a shout was heard at the other end of the park.

"Lucy?! Where are you?!" Natsu voice rang in the distance.

"Natsu..." She whispered, the man let out a low growl. "Nats-mpff!" Lucy tried to scream but was stopped as the man put a cloth over her mouth. It was chloroform.

"Oh no you don't." The man whispered in her ear. "You can't invite your friend to the party! It's only you... and me." Lucy's conscious started to slip away and her eyes became heavy. The last thing she remembered was being put in a van.

 _Natsu..._

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Well that took a while. Hope y'all enjoyed her kidnapping. But don't worry, you'll see what happens next time (don't know when that will be). You know I would love if you would leave me a review (please?)

I also decided to make the bad guys Chinese, I'm not racist so no mean comments.

Until next time!

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	18. Chapter 18

**"Awe, did you hurt yourself again Lucy?"**

 **A smaller version of Lucy sat alone crying on the curb in front of her old home in the suburbs from when her parents we're still alive and well. She was holding her recently scratched, now bleeding, knee. The voice of her best friend caused her to look up at him with teary eyes.**

 **"N-no!" Lucy feigned being alright and hurriedly wiped her tear stained cheeks.**

 **"You're such a klutz." He chuckled. "It's okay to let me know when you're hurting..." grabbing onto her arm, Natsu helped the blonde stand.**

 **"I'll always be there for you, so please rely on me."**

Jolting awake, Lucy bolted up abruptly. The first thing she noticed was she was in a dark, and cold, metal and stone room. The second thing she noticed was that her clothes had changed, and she was now wearing a skimpy pink dress. She, herself, was sitting on an incredibly uncomfortable spring bed. At first she was confused, but then the memories of the events leading up to her current situation came flooding back. And. Somehow. Lucy was strangely comforted, now that she knew that Natsu was going to be safe.

Standing up from the bed, Lucy tried to walk to the door, but found she couldn't. Looking down at her feet, Lucy saw a chain wrapped around her left ankle; restricting her movement around the room. Bending down, she tried desperately to take it off.

"You're wasting your time." A voice came from the other side of the door. Lucy looked up just as a man walked in. It was the same man who got her in this mess, but he wasn't alone. Right behind him was a tall pale man with platinum blond hair and blue eyes.

"What do you want with me?" Lucy demanded, but her demand went unnoticed.

"So, Mr.V, what do you think of 7237?" Kai asked the taller male.

"Hmm... not my type, I prefer them older." Mr. V answered.

"Ah yes, we have a wide variety of age, please follow me down the hall." Kai smiled and led him out of her room, which was more like a cell.

Now she understood. Lucy was now a slave, waiting to be sold to the highest bidder. Falling on her knees, Lucy began to shudder and cry.

"Please hurry Erza..."

...

Natsu ran. He ran, and ran, and ran. He knew Lucy was in trouble. She was dumb enough to take on an enemy she couldn't handle. Reaching into his pocket, Natsu pulled out the note that Lucy had left him.

Dear, Natsu

I'm sorry, but I've made up my mind to face this man alone. But don't worry, Erza gave me a tracker, I'll be used as bait to lure out this man. Erza will be right on my tail, so I will be fine. I know this is risky, but I want to be the one to look out for you this time. So please stay away and let Erza handle this. You are my best friend and I don't want you to get hurt.

Signed, Lucy H

He had to find Erza, only she knew where Lucy was taken. Shoving her note back into his pocket, Natsu replaced it with his phone and quickly dialed the redhead's number.

*hello?* Her voice tunnels from his bad reception.

"Erza! Where's Lucy?! I know you guys made a plan!" He shouted into his phone, not caring if he was talking disrespectfully.

*Calm down, Natsu . According to the tracker in her ear, she is still in motion so we can't tell yet, but once we are certain we will go after her.* Erza tried to be reasonable with him but he refused to listen.

"I don't give a fuck! TELL ME WHERE SHE IS!" He demanded in a howl.

*I DON'T KNOW!* She screamed into the phone, Natsu was a bit taken back by the tone in her voice, it seemed almost...sad. *Natsu, I don't know where she is yet... Just come over to the station and when we have a confirmation we'll go together, I'm worried about Lucy too.*

"...okay."

Natsu sat in the chief's office at the police station, half mindedly twiddling his thumbs as he waited for some, any, results to finding Lucy. Erza worked tirelessly along side her dad with possible places to look while still following the tracker. Apparently the couldn't follow them as a precaution to being compromised. He was sick of waiting, sick of sitting around on his ass, all the while Lucy was surrounded by a bunch of pervy old men, waiting to be sold to the highest bidder. The meer thought made his blood boil with rage.

"We've got it!" The younger Scarlet suddenly bolted up.

"Where's Lucy?" Natsu questioned.

"Hargeon harbor, forty minutes away, twenty-five if we hurry." The chief answered. "Get the team together, this is a raid, we'll need at least six cars." He turned to Erza as he left the room. "Remember your training, shoot only if necessary." With that he left the room to saddle up some more cops. Erza pulled on a bullet proof vest and loaded her gun, shoving it into it's holster on her right hip. She then grabbed an extra vest and tossed it to Natsu.

"No gun?" He asked.

"Sorry, but you have no authorization to carry a lethal weapon. The only reason my dad is letting you come is because you're my friend. Now let's go!"

Without a moments hesitation, Natsu followed behind and jumped into the back of one of the police cars.

 _We'll be there soon Lucy._

...

She doesn't know long she's been there. Two hours...three, maybe four. The only thing that comforted her was the constant sound of waves hitting rocks. She guessed she was near the ocean. All she knew is she was beyond frightened at the the thought of what might happen if this plan failed. Erza told her what she would be getting into, but at the time she didn't care, as long as it meant she could catch the bad guy and protect Natsu, maybe even score a few points here and there. But as the time slowly went by, Lucy was starting to question if it was a good idea. Was Natsu really worth it?

As soon as the thought crossed her mind she froze.

What was she thinking? Of course he was! He was the only one to truly be there for her, to stay with her even if it meant getting hurt. If she wasn't willing to do the same...then what does that say about her?

Consumed by her thoughts, Lucy didn't notice the door open two men walk in.

"Young and blonde." A cold voice stated. "Just how I like 'em." Slowly he walked over to her and ran a hand along her face. It wasn't until this action that Lucy noticed she wasn't alone anymore. She quickly recoiled and slapped his hand away.

"Feisty," he said as he pulled his hand back to his side "I like that." He continued to analyze her, much to her discomfort, until he had a good idea of her worth.

"Young, can't be more than sixteen. Pretty brown eyes and an oddly mature body for her age. By her nervousness I'd say she's never participated in sexual intercourse before. Probably brought here out of desperation for money or by force, which makes for a dull story." He deducted and stood up straight.

"So what do you think?" Kai asked the well dressed, probably wealthy man concubines, but she'll due nicely for my eldest son. Shall we discuss payment?"

"Of course! Follow me back to the office please.

Now Lucy was terrified. Was she just sold? No! That couldn't be! "Please..." Lucy begged. "...hurry..." Lucy began to cry harder and shake in fear. Ten minutes later, they came back and forced her to stand as Kai undid her chains. Once off, Lucy kicked him in the face and tried to run away, but was stopped when her buyer grabbed her arm. Horrified, Lucy began to scream the first name that came to her mind, though she new he would not hear her desperate pleas.

"Natsu! Natsu help!"

...

Seven cop cars raced down the highway, sirens blaring and lights flashing. Moving quickly, they were able to get there sooner than they thought. As they pulled up to what seemed to be an abandoned warehouse, several policemen surrounded the building. Natsu was told to stay in the car as they took care of the situation. Natsu just sat and watched as they ordered them to come out. Honestly, they looked like fools. When they received no answer, they turned to breaking down the doors. Once in shots were fired and the bust turned into a shoot out between both sides. Natsu decided to use this distraction as an opportunity to find Lucy, and bring her to safety. Making his way out of the car, Natsu went around the building to look for another way in without being shot. He found a backdoor but it was chained close. Looking around, he found a metal pile with a faucet connected. He used the pipe to break the lock and get in. Once inside he looked for what would be used to keep them locked away. Suddenly a scream broke the near silence he was surrounded by, besides the gun shots.

"Natsu! Natsu help!"

That was Lucy's voice!

"Lucy!" Natsu shouted as he ran down the hall to the source. He found himself in a dirty corridor of what seemed like prison cells. The second to last door on the right on the far end of the hallway was wide open, and a struggle could be heard. Natsu charged in and saw a tall, old looking, man trying to grab Lucy, who was strangely dressed in a rather revealing dress.

"Get off her!" He commanded in a thunderous roar as he slammed the pipe on his head, knocking him out.

"Natsu!?" Lucy said in a happy, almost confused voice. Said man pulled Lucy into a bone crushing hug and teared up.

"Never. Do that. Again." He said forcefully in a sad voice.

"I'm sorry." She whispered.

 **Click**

Lucy heard a gun load. She quickly looked up and saw Kai standing up, pointing his gun at Natsu's back. She acted before she could think. She turned them around and took the bullet. Immense pain filled her right shoulder blade and she collapsed into Natsu's arms.

"Lucy? Lucy!" He screamed as he laid her down.

"I'm...fine..are you...alright?" She breathed out before passing out. Unstoppable tears spilled from his eyes as he cried out her name.

"How pathetic." Kai's voice suddenly interrupted his wailing. "You come all this way only to see your toy die. It's quite pathetic." He mocked.

Natsu's eyes darkened and grabbed his metal pipe and swung it wildly at him. "YOU BASTARD! He screeched. With one crazed swing he knocked his gun out of his hand, not with out getting shot one or two times, but he ignored his pain as he started to mercilessly bash him over and over. All his humane thoughts disintegrated, the only thing on his mind was revenge. He couldn't stop himself from beating the bastard who got Lucy into this mess half to death.

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Sorry that took so long, I was just to lazy to write. Sorry if your confused by the weird themes and dark behavior. But I never said this would be a happy little story, expect more like this in the future.

See ya laters!

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	19. Chapter 19

It was all a bloody dazed to him, Lucy lay in the corner while he... what was he doing? He only saw blood and felt the sensation of his arm pounding, pounding, pounding. Something pulled him back, and restrained his body to where he couldn't move. The figures then moved towards Lucy. Natsu growled at them, but he could not stop them. Everything started to turn black, he vaguely remembered flashing lights and sirens, and the worried yet angry eyes of a friend.

Natsu aroused shortly after, only this time he was no longer inside the warehouse and was back outside lying in the back of an ambulance. He didn't know what was going on and he couldn't see Lucy anywhere. Natsu tried to get up to search for her, but a woman dressed in white stood in his way. The apparent nurse gave him a blanket for shock therapy, but he just threw it off. She retaliated by putting it back on.

"You need to stay still so you can digest everything." She told him. Natsu rolled his eyes. He wanted to go search for Lucy, he had to make sure she was safe.

Suddenly his sight caught a glimpse of his blonde being carried on a gurney. She was covered in blood and had an oxygen mask strapped to her face. This brought his memories flooding back like the Missoula glacier. He bolted up, but this nurse wouldn't let him leave. Thinking quick, or not thinking at all, Natsu squared her in the jaw and knocked her unconscious. This brought even more unwanted attention to him.

As he tried to get to Lucy's side, man after man charged him and tried to take him down. In a fit of furious rage, Natsu slammed them. The pinkette showed no conscious thought as he grabbed one man by his throat and used is body as a weapon to break the others down. Eventually the cops had to use a taser on him to bring him to end his madness.

The second time Natsu awoke he was nowhere near the warehouse. In fact he was in a jail cell. Freaking out, Natsu ran to the bar door and shook it violently and shouted at no one in particular to let him out. Pretty soon an "officer" appeared. Well it was actually Erza.

"Erza? What the hell I'm I doing in here? What's become of Lucy?" He asked frantically.

"Lucy is fine. The bullet barely scraped her liver, she'll survive but she'll be in the hospital for a while." The fiery red head answered him. Natsu didn't calm down though, he should have been relived, but the news presented to him just made him angry.

"Shit! I should have been ably to protect her! **why couldn't I protect her**?!" Slamming and kicking his foot into the stone wall, Natsu repeatedly banged on the wall and was leaving a visible crack.

"Natsu calm down!" Erza's command stilled his outward rage. "You should worry more about yourself right now." She commented, much to his confusion.

"Whadda you mean?"

"You've been charged with assault and nearly beating a man to death."

...

White walls engulfed the cold room, leaving it unbearably bland and almost death like. The quiet constant beep of the heart monitor was the only sound that filled his ears. Lucy lay still on a hospital bed, several wires and tubes connecting her to different machines of various different proposes. Her surgery had been successful and she would slowly recovering day by day. Lucy had taken slight liver damage from the bullet, along with a broken right arm from the rough treatment she received in the short time she was in the warehouse. The doctors said that she may be here for one to two weeks, but may need a nurse for school. Lucy of course refused, saying she didn't want to bother anyone. Of course his mother argued saying she needed to think about her health. After a while they came to an agreement of Lucy staying at their house the first few weeks, then going back to her apartment. In the short spand of time that Lucy has been awake, Natsu didn't see her while awake. He couldn't face her knowing this all happened because of him.

Natsu was shocked after hearing the news of his crimes from Erza. His memory was so spotty when it happened, he thought it was just a dream. He won't go to jail since he's only 17, but he now has to go to anger management for the next three months and has to do community service. It's not that bad but he hopes Lucy won't find out. He doesn't want Lucy to be afraid of him.

Watching her chest slowly rise and fall, and the calmness of her sleeping face; Natsu was so lost in his thoughts he didn't hear the knock on the door the first time.

"Natsu...?" A soft feminine voice called. Said person turned around and was beyond surprised to see who had just walked into the room.

"Lisanna!" He gasped. He immediately stood and got into a defensive stance in front of his blonde. Lis was dressed in a long light blue dress with a dark grey sweater over the top. Just like she used to dress in middle school before she changed her look. "What do you want?!" He growled.

Lisanna shuffled her feet and twiddled her thumbs. She spoke slowly and nervously. "I know you probably don't l want to see me after... but I came to talk." She said sounding unconfident.

"About what? This isn't exactly the best place." He snorted. Still standing in front of Lucy.

The white-haired girl took a deep breath and meet his gaze. "I know that you never loved me. And that's okay." She started.

"Lis-" He tried to interrupt but she shook her head. He didn't know where she was going with this.

"The fact of the matter is that I've liked you since middle school, when I first moved here you were so kind to me. But I knew you liked someone else and could never fully return my feelings, even after we started dating. I got so lost in jealousy that I got carried away in making you mine, and I ended up losing you..." Lisanna sniffles and wiped away the tears that visibly started to fall. She put on a brave face and stood straight. "I know you love Lucy, and I'll never fully be able to make up for what I did. But at the very least I can help her in her situation." Reaching into her side bag, Lis pulled out a packet and handed it over.

"What's this?" The pinkette asked looking at it, but not opening it.

"It's the hospital bill for her surgery. Totalling $1,200." Natsu eyes widened, but before he could say anything she continued. "My mother works here as a head doctor and I was able to get it reduced to $300." Next she pulled out a simple slip of paper. The slip read pass-22039. "I bought a 30 days trial for the website. It's a series of videos and passages on different subjects and lessons. After this I'll have Mira-nee give it too her teachers. This way, although she's missing school, she'll be able to stay on top of things and even go ahead of her class if she wants." She explained. "I hope you accept this apology."

The room filled with silence again. Natsu looked and thought about everything Lisanna just did. Was she really sorry? Was this all a cruel joke? Was she just trying to get back with him by seeming caring?

"It's Lucy you should be apologizing to. Not me." He said firmly. Lisanna looked down at her feet and nodded.

"It's to soon for her to forgive me." Lisanna reasoned.

"Lucy has the capability to forgive anyone, regardless of what they've done. I'm sure she will-"

"But I was a horrible person!" The junior argued. "I used her past to humiliate her, and I made everyone hate her. How could she ever forgive _me_?" Tears began to fall down her cheeks once more. Yes, this was the friend he knew. She used to be so kind and caring until high school came around.

A raspy voice broke the silence previously filled with sniffles.

"Thank you, Lisanna."

Both of them turned to look at the golden blonde, who was now awake. She smiled kindly at the other girl. A genuine smile. Her brown eyes held a gentle kindness.

"I forgive you. You just wanted to protect what was important to you at any means." Her eyes locked with Natsu's as she said, "I know that feeling."

"Regardless, I took things to far!" Lis argued.

"That may be true, but the fact that you are repentant makes it okay now. If I didn't forgive you I wouldn't be any better."

"Ah geez Luce, your so corney." Natsu mock sighed. The blonde genius blushed and fumed.

"Way to ruin a moment you dunce." She pouted.

He grinned and sticked out his tongue. "You know it's my specialty."

Lisanna looked at her with teary eyes, slowly she smiled. 'Now I understand'. As she watched the two fight over something so silly, it was obvious. The two had a natural spark that shined brightly. Lisanna began to laugh at the two. Natsu looked at her strangely while Lucy looked at her in embarrassment.

"What?"

"Oh nothing." She breathed deeply to catch her breath. 'I finally understand'. "Anyways Lucy, I hope you will be able to find my gift useful." Lisanna said to her.

Lucy looked up at her again, forgetting about her embarrassment. "Oh yeah, of course! I'm very grateful." The brown orbed girl thanked. "I hope we can be friends."

The crystal blue eyed girl was taken completely by surprise. "Friends?" She echoed. Lucy nodded vigorously. Lisanna smiled and walked passed Natsu, and gave Lucy a hug. "I'd love that."

Lisanna then left the room. Walking down the hall she thought to herself. 'With all the pain Lucy has seen... She still has a heart of gold. Natsu is lucky to have her'.

"Natsu." Lucy called in a hushed monotone voice. He turned to meet her eyes. "What's become of Kai?" She inquired.

"15 years, and a life of parole."

Lucy closed her eyes, then reopened them and looked out the window. "I see."

'I could never hold a candle to her'.

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I AM SO SORRY THIS TOOK FOREVER! Lo siento mi amigos.

If you hadn't noticed yet I changed my name from Naluist33 to Plains-Of-White. But don't worry I'm still the same person!

I'm sorry this chapter focused around Lisanna for the most of it, but I wanted to further bring out this characters. I really do like Lisanna. Once again I am crazy busy with school and writing four other stories at once (hey go check them out) so I don't know when the next update will be. Until next time!

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	20. Chapter 20

Lucy sat back against the headboard of her hospital bed. It had been a week since she had been checked into the hospital. The pain in her side had gone down slightly but was still very present. The doctors say that she's making a full recovery and, if she was lucky, would be able to leave next week.

This made Lucy happy but it also worried her. Where would she go now? There was no way she could go back to the Dragneel residence. Was her apartment even safe anymore? The police only rallied up half of the gang. Would they come back and try to hurt her?

Suddenly, a little pop up in the corner of her screen caught her attention and drag her away from her worries for a temporary moment. She was currently watching a lecture on quantum physics while taking notes on her computer. Although she was away from school, she still remained head of her class which pleased her. Even with her messed up excuse for an existence, her intelligence was the one thing she got right.

The pop-up was a game invitation for Nature Call Online.

Lucy paused the lecture and opened up the game. Her fox character spawned in her and Natsu's den. Natsu's wolf character was right in front of her cleaning his pelt.

 **Zodiac12: What did you want Natsu?**

 **Zodiac12: I was in the middle of a lesson.**

 **Fire Dragon: I thought a game would take your mind off of things**

 **Fire Dragon: I know you've been worried**

Lucy smiled to herself. Natsu knew her better than she. He could just tell when she was upset or in danger. That was one of reason she had fell in love with him.

 **Zodiac12: I guess it wouldn't hurt. Want to go hunting?**

 **Fire Dragon: sure thing!**

 **Fire Dragon: bet I can get more kk than ya!**

Oh she could feel the sneer in his voice right now.

 **Zodiac12: We'll see about that mon ami.**

 **Fire Dragon: What'd ya just call me**

 **Fire Dragon: You know I don't like it when you speak other languages!**

Lucy giggled to herself. Natsu really had no clue when it came to other languages. He even had trouble with their native language! Lucy on the hand, fifteen and she already mastered three other languages (French, Spanish and German) and was currently learning a new one (Russian).

The vulpus vulpus and the canis lupus headed out of the den, changing the scenery from a cave to a large forest. They headed deep into the woods and then entered a break in the woodland to an open field. This was a well-known hunting spot for rabbits and deer. Lucy steadied her mouse and slowly crept into the field. Her thermal vision, which she had gained in a boss raid of the elder beast in the mountains, led her to a small group off rabbits chowing down on the surrounding grass. Oh so slowly pawing up, her Fox character pounced and snagged one of them while the others hopped away. Natsu chased after them and managed to catch one as well.

 **You Caught A Woodland Rabbit!**

 **+8 kk**

 **Zodiac12: I earned 8 kk, how about you?**

 **Fire Dragon: same but don't think this is the end!**

 **Fire Dragon: I'll win for sure!**

 **Zodiac12: We shall see about that.**

The hunting challenge between the two went on for three hours till five in the afternoon, when Lucy was pulled away by her nurse to have dinner. The blond quite enjoyed the gaming session with her best friend, even though he threw a fit at the end because he lost by 80 kk. Naturally, Lucy was a better hunter than he.

Tonight's dinner consisted of hot soup and crappy tea. She didn't complain though. She was fine as long as it was hot. It was the last week of October now and the temperature was really starting to drop. The hospital she was staying at had a broken heat system and wouldn't have it fixed for a couple of days.

After dinner Lucy was sent back to her room where she was bathed in the tub room in the corner of her hospital living quarters. Then after she was set into her uncomfortable mattress for bed at seven.

Days passed all the same in the hospital. The same old routine over and over again. Much like her normal life, but at least she got to choose what she did. Her friends came to visit almost everyday to keep her from going bored but there visiting time was limited. Lucy honestly couldn't wait till she could leave. That was until a group of reporters repeatedly tried to talk to her. She refused to talk to them and the hospital security kept them from coming any closer. After a few days she thought it would have blown over but was proved wrong when she turned on the news and saw that her face was front cover of the latest story of being a victim of the gang bust.

Now she was horrified to leave the hospital. Lucy could already see the taunting face of her peers and hear their ridiculing voices laughing at her. Natsu tried to comfort her by telling her that he'd protect her from them, but it didn't help. There was nothing he could do that could stop rumors from spreading.

She had just one more week in the hospital before she went back to school. She was terrified.

Lucy's thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a knock on the door. The blond turned to see Grandeeney and Wendy at the door.

"Hello Lucy, sorry if we're bargaining in." Grandeeney apologized.

Lucy shook her head and welcomed them. "No it's fine. I'm glad to see you." She smiled.

"Yes well, Wendy has been wanting to see you." The older women said and nudged the shy girl over to her.

"Hi Lucy!" The young girl smiled brightly.

"Why, hello to you Wendy." Lucy said back to her.

Sometimes Lucy missed the days when she lived with the Dragneels, when she acted as Wendy's big sister. But then she remembers it's her fault Wendy and Grandeeney almost died. Then she forgets that wish.

Wendy sat herself on the bed next to her and they spent some time talking about various things. Grandeeney left midpoint to take care of a few things, but promised she come back with sweets.

"Hey Lucy, when are you and Natsu going to get married?" Wendy asked suddenly.

"Huh?!" Lucy blushed bright red.

"Mama says that when two people like each other they get married. You and big brother like each other, right?" She said innocently.

"N-Natsu and I aren't getting married." Lucy told her.

"Why not?" She continued in her inquiry.

Lucy calmed her blush and breathed in and out. "Let me tell you a story." She began.

"Once there was a black cat who fell in love with a friendly pink cat, but could never tell him because of a curse she had been plagued with. For fear the pink cat would get hurt because of her, she watched from the sidelines and wished him happiness with another cat. Because for the black cat, her friend happiness meant her happiness."

"What happens to the black cat?" The young girl asked.

Lucy thought for a moment. What would happen to her? Lucy smiled as she answered, "The black cat left."

"Are you going to leave like the cat did?"

"...Perhaps." Lucy had enough of this town, she wanted to leave and start anew. But could she leave Natsu behind?

"Enough!" A angry voice rung throughout the dark room. The small gathering of grown men instantly stopped their arguing at the sound of their leader entering the room.

"Boss!" One of them acknowledge their appearance.

"Would you fuckers stop your shit talkin for a second!" Taking their place at the head of the table the boss addressed their latest problem.

"The sudden appearance of the cops was a surprise but we can't worry about that right now. The members captured need to be taken care of. They know to much to be left alive."

"What will you do boss?" One man asked.

"I've hired a man on the inside to deal with each one. It may look suspicious and raise some attention, but it will keep our secrets hidden. Phase two has been ruined so now we go to plan S: Suicide. If we can't kill her, she'll just have to kill herself."

"Boss if I may ask, what do you have against her? It doesn't seem like the girl did anything to incur your rage." Another man said from the left side of the round table. The hidden boss took out a pistol and shot the questioning man in between his eyes. His blood splattered all over the walls and his lifeless body fell to the ground.

"Any other questions?" They asked.

No one answered.

"Good. So let me make this clear. My reasons are my own. Let the others know that Lucy Heartfilia has a price over her head." The shadowed figure got up from their seat and walked around the table slowly.

"I want her alive. So that she may suffer. I want her driven mad with grief to the point where she'll take a gun...like this one...and blow a hole right through her fucking head." The boss turned to leave through the iron door with a harsh glare in their eyes. 'Your times almost up bitch'.

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Didn't expect that did ya! Sorry this chapter was kinda crap.

Future warning of emotional trauma, excessive bullying, suicidal thoughts, and metal issues.

This was not meant to be a happy story.

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	21. Chapter 21

After weeks of waiting, the much anticipated day had finally arrived. Lucy was finally getting discharged from the hospital.

Lucy was both thrilled and terrified. Finally she could get back on her own two feet, and sleep in her own bed back at the apartment. However, there was one thing that kept nagging at the back of her head. Had anyone else besides the involved found out about Lucy's involvement with the gang bust? Is she still in danger? These thoughts haunted her sleep at night, she couldn't seem to get them out of her head. Either way she won't let Natsu find out about her worries. She doesn't want cause him anymore trouble than she already has.

Natsu was waiting in the waiting room on the first floor. When Lucy walked out of the elevator, she quickly ran over to him and jumped into his arm. Natsu spun her around a circle and set her down gently.

"Natsu!" Lucy beamed. "It's good to see you outside of the hospital room."

"Likewise, Lucy. Glad to see you healthy again."

For a split second, Lucy saw his gaze travel down to her lips then back to her eyes. Lucy blushed but chose to wave it off but unraveled herself from his grip, and laughed a little awkwardly.

"So. Where is everyone else?" Lucy inquired.

"Oh, um, they couldn't make it today." Said Natsu.

"Oh...okay." Lucy said, disappointed.

"Don't worry you'll see them later." Natsu encouraged her.

Lucy nodded and followed Natsu outside to where he parked his car. Before getting in, Natsu took Dramamine and slapped on his motion sickness patches.

"Still can't handle vehicles I see." Lucy smirked.

"Actually driving helps somewhat." He grumbled as he put the key in the ignition and started the car. Natsu drove away from the parking lot and set onwards towards Lucy's apartment.

Conversation during the ride was strangely stretched and kept to a minimum. Like Natsu was trying a little to hard to act normal. He was definitely hiding something from her, she just knew it. But what is was, was the question.

Lucy decided to just look out the window and tune out of any background noise. She began to think over the past two months of her life. Lisanna had tried to separate them and made the whole school hate her, if they didn't already. Natsu dumped her and soon after she ran in to...that man, Kai. For the next few weeks she was stalked and had to move out of her apartment. She saw Wendy, it had been a while since Lucy had seen her, but still blamed herself for almost costing the litte girl her life. She was then found at Natsu's home and decided to turn herself over to him, to protect Natsu and his family from danger. But like the stubborn ass he was, he came to save her anyway. Lucy was nearly sold into slavery at the hand of a merciless underground gang. Natsu nearly beat a man to death to save her. She will admit, that side of her lovable best friend scared her. Finally, after a trip to the hospital she was out and about and safe again. Kai was now in jail and she wouldn't have to worry about him anymore. However, A chilly sensation sat in the back of her bones.

Lucy was so caught up her thoughts that she failed to notice that they had just arrived at her apartment. Natsu nudged her with his elbow to snap Lucy out of her little recount.

"Come on Lucy, were back home." He grinned at her and hopped out, running to open the door for her. That word struck a chord with her. Home. In all honesty, anywhere is home, as long is Natsu is there with her.

Natsu fidgeted as he speed walked towards the stairs, urging Lucy to hurry up. The blonde had a creeping suspicion that there was something hiding in her apartment, like usual. Quickly following her hyperactive dragon, Lucy walked up to her second floor apartment, as she pulled out her key and shoved it in the lock, opening the door, she was meet with large screams of "Welcome Home!". Lucy would have fallen straight on her ass if Natsu hadn't caught her.

Everyone was here; Mira; Levy; Erza; Gray; strangely but probably only for Levy, Gajeel; Wendy; and even stranger, Lisanna. Each one took their turn greeting her as they hurried her in to sit on her old, stained couch.

"Everyone, what is all of this?" Lucy wondered aloud.

"It's a party Lucy-nee." Wendy said to her.

"Were all her to congratulate you on getting out of the hospital, and for helping the police with that gang bust. That was very noble of you to offer your services like that." Erza said next.

"But she's never gonna do anything like that again." Natsu muttered grumply.

"Aw, you afraid someone's gonna take your princess you big baby." Gray laughed. Natsu slammed his fists on the coffee table, causing Lucy to yelp in shock.

"What'd you say ice prick?!" The pinkette yelled at him.

"You heard me, flame brain. Wow, you must be drummer than I thought."

"You wanna go streaker?"

"Both of you enough!" Erza stepped in smashed their two heads in to each other with a painful crack.

"Aye." They both said in a pain filled unison.

"Yeah guys, this is supposed to be a party for Lu-chan." Levy comment. The little bluenette then pulled out a small box and handed it over to Lucy. "This is from both me and Gajeel." She smiled. Lucy opened the box and inside was a brand new scientific calculator.

"The idea was shrimp's, not mine." Gajeel stated gruffly.

Lucy laughed out of joy. She's been wanting one a while now, but they're to expensive for her to buy, so she's just been using her own brain power at school.

This started a long chain of gifts being given. Mira had gotten her an astronomy book; Gray and Juvia, more Juvia, had gotten her a new ,dark brown, winter coat, as it was now late fall; Erza had gotten her throwing knives? Wendy got her a stuffed rabbit, now Lisanna walked up to her with a letter in hand.

"I didn't know what to get you, so I contacted my uncle to get you this." She said as she handed the younger blonde the letter. Lucy took it into her hands and looked at the title on the front.

 **Edolas University For Gifted Minds**

Lucy was honestly shocked to the core. Edolas was a super high class university that only let in a very few selected students. Everyone who graduated from there had become immensely successful. Lucy had thought about applying before but she didn't think she had a chance.

With shaky hands, Lucy opened up the envelope and began to read the paper inside. She read aloud:

 _Letter of recognition._

 _To Lucy Heartfilia, our school has taken notice of your incredible academic capability and knowledge. We invite you to join us at a national test to apply for consideration. Ten students will be chosen from one hundred and fifty. We wish you luck and hope you join us on November 30th at 11:00am, located at University of Crocus Library._

 _\- Edolas University Department Of Attendance._

Lucy dropped to her knees and almost cried. "Lisanna?" She whimpered

"You don't have to go. I just thought it would be a good idea." The white-haired girl murmured honestly.

When Lucy fell Natsu instantly ran over to her and asked if she was okay. Taking the note from her hands, he looked from the note to Lisanna, then to Lucy, then back to the note.

"Lisanna, when did you speak to uncle Fraust?" Mira questioned, a hint of loath in her voice, the three siblings hadn't gotten along so well with their uncle, so it surprised Mirajane when she heard her little sister went him for help."

"I spoke to him last week. Don't be angry."

As the two sisters began to argue about their uncle, a sullen look had found its way upon Natsu's face . "Lucy, are you gonna go?" He asked, somewhat shaky.

"Maybe..." She hiccuped. "I may never get an opportunity... like this again."

"Edolas? University? But that's on another continent!" He nearly shouted.

"But if I get in..."

"You're not! You're too young!" He pronounced.

The room became silent and uncomfortable. Levy tried to clear the air and got everyone to act somewhat normal again. At least for another hour. But it didn't last long. Everyone steadily began to leave until it was only Natsu and Lucy. The two friends awkwardly sat next to each other. Natsu was glaring a fire at the letter and jumped a bit when Lucy rested her head on his shoulder.

"I won't leave you behind Natsu. Besides I haven't graduated high school yet." She said as she rubbed her face against his shirt. Natsu blushed madly but decided to wrap his arm around her.

"I know." He whispered. "It's just, Edolas is so far away."

"Well I may not even get in." Lucy reasoned, trying to comfort him somewhat.

"You will, that's they thing, my little nerd." Natsu smiled. "If you want to apply then you should go for it. I'll wait for you." He smiled sadly. Natsu didn't want Lucy to leave and move half way across the world. But who was he to tell her no? Besides, they still have another year to graduate.

Out off nowhere, It had just dawned on him that he had yet to give Lucy her present, and it was good!

Natsu quickly hopped off the couch and surprised Lucy greatly. The pinkette whipped around and called a quick "be right back" to her before running off to her bathroom, where he had his her present. Natsu was actually surprised it didn't make that much noise during the party. Walking back out, Natsu slowly swaggered over to his blonde best friend.

"I had realised I had yet to give you my gift." Natsu grinned. Lucy looked puzzled but a look of shock and joy quickly replaced her displayed emotions. Natsu pulled out a small blue kitten from behind his back and placed him in Lucy's arms.

"Oh my goodness! Natsu!" Lucy cried as she patted the kitty's soft head.

"I saw him at the shelter yesterday. I knew you would love him." Her pyromaniac best friend dawned a soft smile.

Lucy teared up as she sat back down and placed the little kitty on her lap and continued to stroke his fur.

"What shall we name him? She asked.

"Well if he makes you so happy, why don't name him Happy?" He replied. Lucy gave him a look that clearly said 'seriously'. "What? It's a good name!"

"Yeah, sure." Lucy laughed. "Fine we'll call him Happy."

Natsu was about to shout out in joy when Lucy's phone began to ring. Lucy hurriedly excused herself, grabbed her phone, and went into the kitchen. Which was actually just and extension of the living room.

"Hello?" Lucy chirped happily.

 _"Hello... Lucy." The voice panted._

Lucy's smile instantly faded. She recognized this voice, this unforgettable and frightening voice that frightened her. Kai's voice.

 _"Haha, you may have bested me... But my boss." *whistles* "Now out for your blood."_

All the cheer she had felt early had left her body and was replaced with terror. Was this ever gonna end? What had she done to deserve this?

 _"They are heartless. What they are about to do to me... is nothing compared to what they're gonna do to you. And since I'm being so nice as to warn you... I'll be silenced in a rather 'harsh' way." The voice of Kai had stopped momentarily, then continued with a song, one she had never heard before._

 _"Look around and see your friends~_

 _All on who you depend~_

 _But one among is dangerous~_

 _One. Is. Treacherous~"_

His voice was once again replaced with heavy breathing, as if he was staggering for breath. Another voice joined in in a mutter. Kai said something back almost inaudible. A gun shot was heard and a scream of pain raced to her ears. Before the line gave up, Lucy clearly heard the word. "Blue." Before the line went dead.

Lucy stood there, in her kitchen, numb to her bones. So even after all she went through, right when she thought her life might turn for the better. Reality slapped her, and slapped her hard. But what had he meant by his song? One of her friends wanted her _dead_? That wasn't possible! And what was he trying to say when he said "Blue"? Was that the one? But who could that be? It didn't make sense!

Lucy fell to her knees for the second time that day. This time out of fear and despair.

"Why?!" She screamed and began to cry hysterically. Natsu zoomed into the room and fell next to her. He tried to ask her what was wrong and console her. But Lucy was too into it that she barely noticed his presence. When Lucy finally did calm down she just gently cried into his shoulder, while she sat in his lap.

"Natsu?" She croaked, voice incredibly dry.

"Yeah?" He answered.

"Don't ever leave me okay? Promise?" She whimpered.

Natsu said sighed and brought her closer to his chest _._ Resting his head on her head, "Natsu whispered, "Of course."

Lucy smiled lightly as tears still cascaded down her cheeks. That was one thing she could find comfort in. The fact that Natsu would forever be by her side. She really did love him.

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Ooo this chapter was so long! Yo I'm so sorry for getting this out so late! My friend has been nagging me forever to update this story since its his favorite.

I sorta (not really) regret to inform you that this story will be getting darker from hear on out. If you find the themes to mindfucking just tell me and I'll change the rating.

Yay! Finally made use of Lucy's intelligence! And sorta redeemed Lisanna a little further..

Can you guys guess who is gonna betray Lucy? Bet you can't! (Dear sunnysidezach, don't you dare reveal it.) Shout out to him for helping me with the plot.

See y'all sorta soon hopefully! I'll try.

Favorite, Follow, Review~


	22. Chapter 22

The time had finally come for Lucy to return to school, she was excited to be with her friends once more, but she didn't know if she could handle the teasing again. Fear gripped her of what the other students may have heard, and of what they might do. But most of all, she was afraid of who was out for her. The phone call she had gotten yesterday still haunted her thoughts. Someone wanted her dead, and killed Kai to keep him silent.

Lucy didn't tell Natsu about the call. He had already put his life at risk trying to save her the first time. She won't have him risk it again, he doesn't need her bad luck.

Lucy cautiously strided towards the school with Natsu by her side. Holding his hand, she squeezed it tightly as she shook.

"Don't worry, Lucy. I won't let anything happen to you." Natsu reassured her. Lucy didn't look up at him, but continued to stare at her shoes.

"Okay." She murmured.

Entering the building, Lucy kept her gaze down, but felt the stares of her peers. A wave of whispering began as the two friends walked down the hallway.

"Look, it's the black cat."

"Damn it, I wished she would have died at the hospital."

"Apparently she was involved in a gang bust."

"She must be the bitch of one of 'em."

"Haha, probably."

Lucy tried to ignore their voices, tried to shut them out. However she began to feel tears run down her face. Natsu noticed this and brought her closer, leading her out of the hall and into her first period. Levy saw them walk in and ran over as soon as she noticed Lucy crying.

"Lu-chan, what's the matter?" The bluenette asked the blond. Lucy didn't answer her, but allowed herself to be led to her seat. Mirajane walked in and ran over as soon as she saw her friends surrounding Lucy.

"What's going on?" She asked.

"Students have been spreading rumors about the incident." Natsu responded from his place next to Lucy, where he was gently rubbing her back.

"I'm gonna kill them." Mira smiled evilly.

"Mira... Your evil showing." Levy depanded.

"Well they deserve it." She argued.

"Let Erza take care of it, she is the student council president after all." Levy shot back.

"You sayin' she's better than me?" Mira questioned.

"Mira, now is not the time for old rivalries." Levy told her.

Lucy raised her head to look at her friends argue back and forth. She felt a smile tug lightly at her lips. Lucy let out a small giggle. Natsu saw her smile and smiled himself.

"Feeling better?" He asked.

"M'hm, thank you." Lucy murmured.

"That's good." Natsu let out a breath and pulled Lucy into a hug, which she returned.

Even if everyone else in this school comes to despise her, she'll be okay know that her friends are by her side.

…

The rest of the week past as she expected. People laughed at and mocked her. Others even tried to trip her, and succeeded. The worst it got was when a random girl up and slapped her in the face, while she was reading in the library. It eventually got so bad that once again she had to have someone by her side at all times, normally Natsu, Mira, or Levy, but something even Lisanna offered to watch out for her. It was true what they say, she is a black cat of misfortune.

Lucy sat on her bed I'm her apartment listening to Mozart and Bach. Her cat, Happy, lay on her lap, purring as he slept. Well at least animals didn't hate her too.

Lucy was torn away from her depressing thoughts when she heard her doorbell ring. Getting up from bed, Lucy went to answer to see Wendy, along with Grandeeney were standing outside the door.

"Hello Lucy-san." Wendy greeted.

"Hello." Lucy greeted back, she looked over curiously at Grandeeney.

"We heard what a rough week you had, so we thought we'd come over to cheer you up." The older woman said with a smile. Lucy stepped to the side to let the two Dragneels in.

They stayed for about three hours and simply talked and ate a pie that Grandeeney brought over. Wendy was really supportive of Lucy, as was Grandeeney. However, when Wendy got up to go to the bathroom. Lucy was left with Natsu's mom.

"You're father was a great man." She said out of nothing.

"Um, yeah, he was." The blond responded.

"He was always really kind to me, being so polite and gentlemanly. Not to mention he was incredibly smart, and brave, and strong." She smiled and turned to look at Lucy. "You take after your mother. Nosey, but caring."

Lucy blinked, not sure how to respond.

"Uh…"

"Lucy-san!" Wendy's voice yelled from the background. The little girl then came running out into their place in the living room, with Happy in her arms. "You never told me you had a cat!" Wendy exclaimed.

"Oh, Natsu just got me him last week." Lucy said.

"He's so cute! Mama, can I have a cat?"

"Maybe someday." Her mother said.

…

Lucy sat in bed once again, Happy by her side, and her laptop on her lap. She logged onto Nature Call Online. She looked into her friend list to see that Natsu was on as well. His avatar wasn't in their den, so he was most likely out hunting.

 **Zodiac12: Hey.**

 **Fire Dragon: Hey Lucy. You okay?**

 **Zodiac12: Yeah, your mom and sister came over earlier.**

 **Fire Dragon: They said they did. Hey, wanna catch a movie Sunday?**

 **Zodiac12: Sure, what do you want to see?**

 **Fire Dragon: Whatever you wanna see.**

 **Zodiac12: Haha, okay, I'll see what's playing.**

 **Fire Dragon: Kay, see you later.**

 **Zodiac12: See you Sunday.**

Lucy then continued to go on a little hunting trip of her own before logging of to look at movies. Even if everything around her changed and the kids at school continued to haze her, at least Lucy knew Natsu would always be a constant. But that made Lucy think. Her involvement was supposed to be classified, how did the news get leaked out in the first place.

…

Today was Saturday, November 30. The day of the entrance exam for Edolas. Levy came over for support, Lucy didn't tell Natsu about her going to the exam. Just as the form said, one hundred and fifty students arrived to take the test. Lucy was sent into a large library where the test was being taken. She was required to turn in anything she had so she wouldn't be able to cheat. Calculators, pencils, and paper were all provided, however the test itself was on a computer. The testing period was a total of three hours, and at the end they were all shown their overall percentage from being graded on the computer.

Lucy received a 97.81%, yet she feared that it was not enough.

"I'm sure you'll make it in Lu-chan." Levy comforted her. Lucy nodded. Perhaps she will.

...

The group of gang members sat around the oval table once again. Their shadowed boss stood in the corner of the room, tapping their foot in annoyance.

"Seventeen years I've been waiting." They muttered. "The day she was born only encouraged my hate… I've wanted to kill her for over a decade."

Sliding off the wall, they slowly walked around the room to their designated seat.

"I've tried to have her killed over and over again. But that little bitch always finds a way to survive…

"So if I'm to have her die it needs to be by her own hands. No what can I do to make her do that?" Their followers didn't answer, but remained uneasy in their chairs.

"You can threaten her." One of the men suggested.

"Ah no, too easy. Plus that nosey Natsu Dragneel will stop at nothing to protect her."

They sat down in their chair and drew a knife from their pants, and stabbed it into the table.

"I say we hit the ones closest to her. In despair, she'll do exactly what I want. It's almost time to enact Operation Cold Despair."

They grinned wickedly and cackled, sending shivers down the spines of every member in that room. They all secretly felt sorry for what was going to happen to that poor girl, but none of them dare say that out loud. Unless they wanted a bullet between their teeth.

.

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.

Sorry this took so long, I've been focusing on other projects. I was thinking of renaming this story and changing the description to avoid confusion. What do you think?

Please leave a lovely review before you go!

Favorite, Follow, Review~


	23. Chapter 23

December had now come and had brought all of it's Christmas joy with it, and its exam stresses. Now the end of the semester all the students where desperately trying to earn extra credit, reflect everything they had learn in a short period of time, and absorb any additional information they thought necessary. Natsu was one of these students, currently failing two classes, Pre-Cal and Lit. While Lucy was not, currently over achieving in AP Calculus and AP Literature. Which brings us to where they are now.

"Natsu you have to distribute the equation before you divide it!" Lucy told (yelled at) him.

"Like this?" He questioned and redid the problem.

"No, the negative should become a positive!" She said (screamed).

It was not easy to tutor Natsu. He would confuse a quadratic formula with a STP formula, and those weren't even from the same class! STP is Chemistry! Lucy rubbed her temple in frustration.

"Let's go over this one more time." She grumbled. That led to three more hours of work before he finally ditched the Chemical equations. And three more for him to finish a very simple worksheet with her help- let it be known that Lucy's idea of 'easy' is extremely difficult.

Natsu ended up coming over to her apartment every day after school. He had long since left the football team in order to watch over her, so they were spending even more time together. If that was even possible. Although they mostly studied, Lucy would occasionally let them take a break to play some video games.

School remained the same horrid nightmare as it was throughout the rest of the month. The teasing never seemed to stop. She'd get blamed for someone else's life problem for simply being in the same area of them. Or she'd get laughed at for her clumsiness. Or get made fun of for her run in with a gang. It mostly verbal abuse, nothing too physical. And if it ever was, Natsu, Mirajane, or Erza would put a stop to it.

Erza had actually come to apologize for getting her involved with the bust and for not being able to control the info leak to the media. Lucy accepted and told her it was okay.

With only two weeks of the month spent in school, Lucy was able to push through it in the prospect of being able to leave for winter vacation. Grandeeney had suddenly popped up with plans to go to a ski resort for a week. It would be her and all the Dragneels. At first she refused, worried something would go wrong, but accepted at her persistence. Grandeeney even said she could bring Levy and Mira with her. Natsu would be bringing Gajeel, since they were cousins, and Gray, meaning Juvia would follow; and knowing Erza, she'd get lonely and come along as well. So they would have a full pack there. But for now, she had to focus on her exams.

Before the test started, Lucy was called out of her class and sent to a lone room in the faculty office, there she was given a separate test, different from the one the others were taking. Lucy worried that something had gone wrong and began to panic, but was reassured that it was just a simulator test for a new exam format they wanted to use next semester. Lucy agreed to take it and carried on. At the end of the three hour period Lucy turned in her work and was allowed to leave school early. Not wanting to go without Natsu, she stayed and went to read in the library.

She later consulted Natsu about the strange test she was given.

"I don't think you should worry about it. It's probably nothing." He told her.

"But why use me to try the test on?" She pondered.

"Because you're our top student." Natsu said with a grin. "I would have chosen you."

Lucy felt her heart beat faster and a light blush battle her already red face from the cold air.

"Thank you." She smiled.

School ended on the nineteenth and led them into winter break. They'd be going to the resort on the twenty-second.

The two friends were currently walking down main street, looking at shops, bundled in warm clothes while white snow fell around them. The city had been decorated with colorful lights and garlands. Despite the loneliness it had once brought, the Christmas season had always brought joy to her. She loved how colorful and beautiful it made the city.

"What do you want for Christmas?" Natsu suddenly asked.

"You." Lucy said subconsciously. Lucy stopped walking when she realized what she said. Natsu gave her a face of disbelief, an apparent blush on his face. Lucy flushed as well and quickly tried to fix her mistake.

"I-I mean for y-you to make me something! B-by hand!" She tripped over her words.

"S-sure! Of c-course!" He stuttered back.

Things quickly became quiet and awkward, both of them blushing and avoiding each other's gaze.

"W-what do you want?" Lucy changed the subject.

"I don't know." He shrugged, regaining his posture.

"Common, that's not a fair answer!" She argued.

"Then how about a new jacket to match my scarf." He suggested.

"Okay." Lucy smiled happily. "I can do that."

They two continued to gift shop for their friends and family. Of course just Natsu's family, not her own. She had gotten Levy a new book, and Mira a really cute pair of oven mittens, and Erza a red Santa hat ornament. For Wendy she had gotten a stuffed white cat, for Igneel a coffee mug, and for Grandeeney a new set of vegetable knives; as she had been saying that her knives were becoming dull and making it hard to work.

Natsu and Lucy returned back to her apartment and put on How The Grinch Stole Christmas, the one with Jim Carrey, to watch while they wrapped the presents.

When they finished they put in another movie, The Muppets Christmas Carol, and curled up with each other under a blanket on the couch. Lucy tried to ignore the pounding in her chest and focus on the movie. Halfway through she felt herself grow weary. Nodding off, Lucy fell asleep with her head resting on Natsu's shoulder.

Natsu glanced over at her and smiled. He though back to the time when they were both children. When his parents would force him to dress up and take him to see the nutcracker. They would then meet up with Lucy's family, where Lucy would be dressed in a little fancy dress, with her hair adorably put in pig tails.

Natsu smiled at the memory of his love before her parents deaths, when she was so much happier.

"Lucy?" He called but received no response.

"Lucy?" Again no response from the blond.

Confident that she was asleep, Natsu leaned down and placed a kiss on her cheek, right next to her lips. He pulled away with a blush and rested his head on hers.

It's been eight years since he had first met her that day on the street, and two years since he had learned that he loved her. Natsu couldn't ignore his feelings, nor could he fight them. Dating Lisanna was proof of that. Natsu then made a decision he'd tell Lucy how he felt before Christmas day.

However, the words that Lisanna had spoken to him rang through his head. After Lucy's welcome back party, he had gone and spoken with her...

[Flashback]

 _Natsu had later met up with Lisanna outside her house, banging on her door, not caring how loud he sounded to them or the neighbors. Lisanna came down and answered the door in her pajamas._

 _"Natsu?" She sounded._

 _"What was that, Lisanna? Do still hate Lucy so much as to send her to another continent?" He nearly yelled at her._

 _"What? No! It's for her own good!" Lis argued._

 _"Hers? Or your own?" He retorted._

 _"You don't understand! Someone is out to get Lucy! Leaving is the best way to keep her safe." She said._

 _Natsu did a double take at her words. "What? What do you mean?"_

 _Lisanna gave a quick glance around and leaned in. "When I put together that video to try and separate you two, I received the info and content from an outside source." Natsu's eye twitched at the mention of her Black Cat video, but listen intently as she continued._

 _"Who gave it to you?" He questioned._

 _"I don't know, they didn't say who they were. They just sent me an email with the content with a note that said: for revenge. Whoever they are Natsu, they want Lucy gone."_

[End]

Natsu worried for Lucy's safety and stressed over finding whoever the person who wanted to hurt Lucy was. Whoever they were, they had resources and a dangerous thirst. They also somehow knew what was going on in Lucy's daily life.

...

"Ah Christmas. Her favorite time of the year." The boss sighed in a sing song voice. "What better time to take everything away and ruin her?" They laughed maniacally.

"What will you do boss?" One of their lackeys asked, slightly shaking from fear. The boss looked over their shoulder lightly and gave them a sickening grin.

"Hit her where her scars lie. She almost costed two of the Dragneel girl's lives several years back, which further deepened her belief in her own bad luck." They said matter of factly as they spun around in their chair. Bringing it to a stop they had a wicked grin cloaked in the darkness of the shadows that they rested in. "So if one of them were to die... well that would be enough to want to die as well, right?"

"Of course boss!" Several of them answered in panic.

The boss glared at them. "That was a rhetorical question." Grabbing their jacket, gun, and old knives, the boss walked towards the door.

"I'm off to crush our little bitch." They said and opened the iron door. "Watch over everything, will you?"

.

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In preparation for the bomb drop of the next chapter. I apologize for any confusion I may have created last chapter. Lucy is 15, but the boss has held a grudge for 17 years, the reason why will be explained later. Last chapter updated to clear it up.

I hope to update at least by next month, but I have several stories going on and the semester is coming to an end so I have a lot of work heading my way. I'll try, that's all I have to say.

Favorite, Follow, Review~


	24. Chapter 24

Twisting and turning around the winding curves of the mountain, three cars followed each other in a row up to the ski resort. Lucy road in the same car as the Dragneels, sitting behind the driver's seat with Wendy in the middle and Natsu on the right. Gajeel drove his truck with Levy on the passenger's seat. The Strauss siblings followed after them in Mira's silver Subaru. Then finally, Erza drove both Jellal, Gray, and Juvia in her black Audi. Lucy didn't really know the latter three all that well; but Jellal was Erza's boyfriend, and Lucy still felt in indebted to Erza for helping her with the Kai problem, and Gray was Natsu's friend so she was okay with it.

However, try as she may, Lucy could not shake off an eerie feeling of foreboding. There were to many people around her for something bad not to happen. She could feel it, an air of evil seemed to be swallowing her within the car. Lucy began to regret coming along on this trip, she feared causing harm to someone she cared about. After all, she has already put the lives of others in danger before. Such as with the Kai incident, she had gone with him to protect Natsu from getting involved. She had told Natsu not to come, but he did anyway, that's the thing. Natsu was always too keen on protecting his friends to stay away. Since Lucy was the closest to him and the one he loved, she knew he'd die before he let anyone hurt her. Yes, she had heard to conversation between Lisanna and him while she was in the hospital. Lucy had pretended to be asleep to listen in on what they were saying, but she never thought she would hear...

 _"I know you love Lucy,"_

Lucy was so shocked when she heard those words, to find out that the man she was in love with returned her feelings. However, instead of feeling happiness, she only felt dread. How could he love someone who'll only end up getting him killed because she was to selfish to think of the consequences. Natsu could never be with her, not ever.

"Lucy-nee?" Wendy called out to her. "You shaking."

Was she? Only then, after Wendy told her, did she realize she was violently shivering in her seat.

"Are you cold?" Grandeeney smiled at her in the review mirror. "Would you like me to turn up the heat?"

"No, thank you. I'm alright." She responded and hugged her arms closer in a shiver. Natsu looked over at her in concern. His gaze went unnoticed as she had her eyes locked on the snowy would outside the window.

After a long four hour drive, the three cars all pulled into the parking lot close to each other. Hopping out of the car, Natsu and Wendy immediately went to kiss the ground, rejoicing that the ride was over. When Lucy stepped out she took in a deep breath of the cold, fresh air. Breathing out she saw her breath appear in a puff like a cloud.

"It's nice isn't it?" Igneel said to her.

"Yes, it's a refreshing change from the city." Lucy said back. Igneel offered her a friendly grin then went to unload the trunk. Lucy went back into the car to retrieve her backpack, then followed to offer carrying something for them to help out. Igneel left the group to go check into their rooms; Erza went along to pay for her own room.

"Hey Lucy, what do want to do first?" Levy inquired as she bounced up and over to her.

"Well I'd like to build snowman." The blond responded.

"Okay! How about you Gajeel?" The petite bookworm asked 'more than a friend but less than a lover' Gajeel.

"Take a nap." He answered gruffly as he unloaded his belongings.

"You're no fun." Levy pouted.

Lucy giggled at her friend and grabbed her skis from their placement on the top of the car. Stepping back down from the car top, Lucy accidentally stepped on a piece of ice and slipped. Natsu stepped in and caught her right before she fell.

"Woah there, you okay Lucy?" He asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine, thank you." Lucy offered a smile.

Natsu looked at her disbelieving and sighed. "I wished you wouldn't mask yourself when your around me." Natsu told her.

"Huh?" Lucy voiced. Damn, he saw through her facade, like he always does.

"Lucy, what's really wrong?" Natsu wondered aloud to her.

"I'll tell you later." Lucy told him in a low tone, then walked away to join up with Levy and Mira. Natsu followed behind at a close distance, keeping his eyes on the blond.

Grandeeney led all of the kids to the resort's hotel where they met up with Igneel in the lobby. Their rooms were all located on the third floor of the six floor building. Wendy, Grandeeney, and Lucy all shared a room together. Levy was staying with the Strauss sisters, as well as Juvia; Igneel, Grey, Natsu, and Gajeel shared a room together. Leaving Erza and Jellal to have their own room together.

After all of them unpacked their belongings and settled in, which took about an hour, the group all met together to have dinner together at the downstairs restaurant. Natsu stared at Lucy the entire time, sitting right next to her. He noticed halfway through that she was barely eating and mostly kept her eyes on the ground. Natsu offered his hand to her, which she gladly took and squeezed. After dinner, being exhausted as they were, the entire group separated to their rooms and went to sleep.

The next day they woke up bright and early, getting into their snow gear and meeting up later outside the slopes, only to get separated again. Lucy spent the first two hours of the day building an army or snowmen with Wendy, before she left to go sledding with her dad. Lucy then met up with Levy and Gajeel to third wheel with them. Really, Lucy was just trying to avoid Natsu. She knew he'd persist in asking her what was wrong, but she didn't want to talk about it. Not now at least. It'd be selfish to make others worry about her right before Christmas.

After a quick lunch and another trip around the slopes, Lucy decided to return to her room. She could use a quick nap after everything she'd done that day, he muscles were aching and shivering. Once inside, Lucy filled up the bath tub with hot water, and cleaned herself with a cloth as she waited. When it was done, Lucy set herself in and laid back in the water, enjoying the relaxing feeling. Closing her eyes, she felt herself begin to drift off and grow tired. But a sudden knock on her door brought her back the living.

"Lucy?" Natsu called from the outside.

"Just a second!" She yelled and practically leaped out of the bath tub, grabbing a bath towel and wrapping it around her body. Lucy walked into the now darkened room, due to the sun setting, and went to open the door. On the other side stood Natsu, still in his yellow snow gear, waiting patiently.

"Come in." Lucy stepped aside as an offer for him to come in. Natsu walked in and took off his coat, setting it down on a chair, then sat on one of the beds without saying anything.

"I'll order us some tea." Lucy said and headed towards the phone.

"Lucy." Natsu's voice stopped her from dialing room service. Said person froze and slowly turned around. Natsu stared at her with a serious look on his face. "Tell me what's wrong." He almost commanded. The blond sighed and nodded, walking back over to him and sat down on his left.

"I think it was a mistake for me to come on this trip." Lucy confessed looking into her palms.

"What? Why would you think that?" Natsu demanded.

"Well, I just have a strange feeling of foreboding. Like something really bad is about to happen. And it will be my fault."

"Lucy listen to me." Natsu said and took her face into his hands. "You're an amazing person. You're funny, sweet, caring, and have a heart of gold. You shouldn't take the blame of everything around you, that's to much guilt for one person to carry alone." Natsu paused to run his fingers through her cold, wet hair. "Instead share some of it with me." The young teenager smiled from his words and rested her head on his chest.

"Okay." She said quietly.

Just then, Wendy came barging in along with Grandeeney. The two little love birds immediately spilt away from each other in slight embarrassment, both blushing red.

"Lucy-nee!" Wendy shouted happily and ran over to her like nothing happened. "Me and mama found something really cool on the roof! We wanna show it two you!" She smiled and bounced around.

"O-okay." Lucy responded timidly and stood up."

"Well come on then!" The tiny bluenette chirped and ran back out the door.

"We'll be waiting for you." Grandeeney said before she followed after her daughter, leaving her son alone with her once again.

With out giving the pinkette so much as a glance, Lucy got up and walked into the bathroom to change out of her robe. Pulling on a long sleeved pink sweater and a pair of light blue jeans. Before walking back out, Lucy looked at herself in the mirror. Staring back at her were tired eyes and a crinkled, frowning face. She had let herself grow dry within her own guilt. She looked like death. Sighing at her reflection, Lucy unlocked the door and walked out, but was surprised to see Natsu was still there.

"What is it, Natsu?" She asked from her placement next to the door. Natsu didn't say anything, but simply stared at her with a straight face. Just when she was becoming uncomfortable, he stood up and grabbed his jacket from the chair he had placed it on earlier. Stepping over towards her, he wordlessly dropped it over her shoulders.

"It's cold out there." He whispered to her and pulled her closer to his body, pulling her into a hug. Lucy's face was completely delved into his chest as he rested his chin on her head.

"What happened to us? Why don't you trust me anymore?" He wondered in a sad tone. Lucy closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around his waist, but stayed silent. They stayed like that for almost a minute, till Lucy pushed him away and ran out the door. Natsu didn't call after her. He didn't run after her either. He knew that whatever she was dealing with, he must be the root cause and wouldn't confide in him.

...

Lucy stood atop the roof looking out at the mountain, which was covered with Christmas lights. Wendy was standing right at her side, gazing in awe as well. Grandeeney had left, saying she wanted to go grab her camera to take a photo of them.

Lucy looked out at the beautiful sight with a sense of fear. She shouldn't be alone with Wendy, something horrible could happen and-

"Nothing is your fault, Lucy-nee." The little girl suddenly interrupted her thoughts. Lucy turned to look at her in astonishment.

"H-how did you-" she began but was interrupted again.

"It's all over your face, Lucy-nee. It's kinda obvious your worried about me." She said honestly.

Lucy lowered her eyes and looked down at her naked palms. "I'm sorry." She shivered.

"Lucy-nee it's not your fault, it's just a string of coincidence. Your too kind to wish harm upon anyone." Wendy said to her with a kind smile.

Lucy felt compelled to smile as well. The little bluenette always seemed to put her at easy with her childish charm.

"Thank you Wend-"

Lucy was suddenly interrupted as a gunshot rang through her ears, deafening her ears with its loud boom. She crouched over and held her hands above her head, hiding from whomever shot the bullet. Then the sound of a body dropping fell beside her. Lucy looked up from her fetal position and saw Wendy's small body lying sprawled out on the ground, a pool of blood flowing from her stomach.

"Wendy..?" Lucy called out.

"Lucy-nee..." She groaned quietly in pain and reached her hand out towards Lucy.

"Wendy!" She yelled and crawled over to her, reaching her hand out to the little girl as well.

"Ma...ma?" The girl mumbled.

However before she could reach Wendy, a second bullet penetrated her skull and exploded her head mere inches from Lucy's face, drenching Lucy in scarlet red blood. Her eyes widened as she stared in horror of the sight in front of her own body. Lucy laid paralyzed with shock, unable to move her limbs or able to speak a word. This is all her fault, she never should have come here! Now Wendy is de-de-dea-dead! Tears trickled down her face, her body started to shake violently.

 **"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"** Lucy screamed in terror and sobbed uncontrollably. She cried and mourned endlessly as she pulled herself with her cold hands over to the little girl's body.

 **"Wendy! Wendy! Wendy!"** She cried out and landed herself next to the fresh corpse of the now dead little girl. Slowly taking her face into her hands, she cradled her head and howled in pain.

"Lucy." A sweet voice said behind her "What have you done?" Lucy turned her head over to look at her legal guardian. The older woman's face was cold and hard, standing firmly above her with a look of loathing. Only then did Lucy notice the custom made silver gun in her hand.

"Grandeeney?" She said in confusion. "Why are you... why do you have a... gun..." Lucy gasped aloud when she subconsciously put two and two together. "You... killed your... daughter?"

The woman's face stayed unchanging. "Depends on how look at it."

Lucy gritted her teeth and swallowed her spit. She felt herself breakout in a cold sweat. Who was this person? Because bit certainly wasn't the woman who raised her after her parents died, who comforted her and took care of her.

"Why...?" The blond whispered.

Grandeeney grinned wickedly and crouched low next to her. "She was of no use to me anymore." The bluenette spat in her face. Blue... Kai... Before he died, he tried to warn her about the one after her and said the word blue. Grandeeney? She's the one behind everything?!

"Now Lucy." The woman spoke, and shoved a gun in her face. "Either you are going to jump off the ledge, or I'm going to go down stairs and kill every single one of your friends, starting with Natsu."

Lucy froze at her threat, feeling her throat run dry. "Your own son?" Lucy questioned in a horrified hushed tone.

Grandeeney scoffed at her. "He's never been a son to me."

The pure cold emotion that shown in the eyes of the woman in front of her was enough to make her stick to the ground with unadulterated fear. Lucy felt like a knife was being held up to her throat just from the words her mouth formed. This was no longer the kind and gentle woman she used to know; this was a hard cold killer with no sign of remorse. Lucy wanted to do nothing but run away, run and disappear without a trace, but felt so compelled by her fear to discover the woman's true reasons.

"Why...?" Lucy asked in slight hesitation.

"Why what?" Grandeeney echoed.

"Why are you doing this?"

A flash of light shinned across the bluenette's face for a second, her eyes glistening in the light, then falling back into darkness as the light faded. She didn't speak for a moment, possibly contemplating whether to tell her or not. After about twenty second of cold eye contact, Grandeeney opened her mouth.

"It's a long story, but seeing as how you're about to die, I'll let you know the reason behind your death.

"Along time ago, back in middle school I met your mother Layla, who had just moved to Magnolia from Acalyfa. She was innocent and cheerful, I took a liking to her rather quickly. We stayed best friends up into high school. We did everything together. That's also where I met your father, and introduced him to your mother. Jude was a kind man, cunning and incredibly handsome. Your mother knew I was in love with him and promised not to interfere. However, a week before prom of our junior year, Jude asked Layla to be his date; and she said _yes_. It was such a betrayal. I had loved him for the past two years, doing everything I could to get him to notice me! Your mother knew that, but she accepted his offer anyway! I was so hurt and confused I ended up having drunken sex with Igneel, an idiot and class clown, that night to drown my sorrows. But I ended up getting pregnant. Igneel had feelings for me for the past year, but I couldn't care less about that. Jude was the only man for me, so I decided to tell him. Jude thought that I had become confused when I tried to confess to him, believing I was really attracted to Igneel. I lost all my chances with the only man I ever loved. I flipped out and attacked Layla, breaking her arm. I was then sent to the mental hospital where I was declared to be psychopathic. **Isn't that laughable**?!" Grandeeney shouted and let out a manic laugh to emphasize her point.

"Me, a psycho? No. I was a hurt woman who was put in the wrong. Layla frequently came to see me in the hospital, helping me with my pregnancy, but not once _apologized_! Natsu was then later born in that hospital. Igneel came to take custody of him. I didn't care. He was conceived by a man I loathed. Three years after that I was let out. I closed myself off from the rest of the world. I sat in anger and despair for _two years_ in a small apartment, receiving money from my parents who still claimed to care about me. There on the streets I encountered a couple thugs who wanted to make trouble. I killed three of them, one of them apparently being the head. In accordance to their law, I became the boss of that gang. For the next five years I spent all of my time involved in the gang, creating rival turf wars to pass time, killing so many people I lost count. Then I discovered that Layla and Jude had a child while I was away, you. I devised a plan to kill their child, then take revenge upon Layla, that way Jude would be all mine.

"I contacted Igneel and said I wanted to get together. He was unsure at first but was later convinced for the 'good' of Natsu. We moved back and I came in contact with Layla again. I faked wanting our old friendship back again to grow close to her. However something unexpected happened. Natsu ran into you before I could introduce you two. Such a shame, I was going to convince him into hating you, but nothing I said could convince him otherwise. Such a useless excuse for a son. I used my influence of my gang to cause a crash that would kill both you and your mother. However Jude took your place." Grandeeney slowly stood up from her spot where she was kneeling. Then suddenly jabbed her foot into her side. Lucy let out a yelp of pain.

"Suddenly the man I loved was dead, I was left with the woman I hate's child, and I was pissed and pregnant again. I then decided to make your life hell. I had several of my men pose as high school students and follow you secretly to cause your so called ' frequent accidents'." Lucy's eyes grew wider from realization.

"But it wasn't enough for me. I had one of my men attempt to run over both you and the daughter I never wanted. But her almost hit me instead, I made sure to hang him later. After that I started to notice you were becoming psychologically tortured, believing everything was your fault. I decided to play along and assist in your torment. Playing as the helpful and caring guardian while I secretly watched you suffer. I almost succeeded in having you kill yourself, but my so called son stopped you. After that I noticed that you two had fallen in love and you were becoming happier. That's when I introduced Natsu to Lisanna to try to get him to break your puny heart. And it worked for a bit, but I underestimated your bond. So when I discovered Lisanna had plans to hurt you, I sent her an email of the crash and everything my men have caused and put the blame on you. As I planned, everyone began to hate you and you were constantly hazed and bullied. But it wasn't good enough, Natsu was still giving you courage. That's when I sent Kai to stalk you. But that didn't work either. I then decided to sell you as a sex slave and had Kai kidnap you. But once again you were saved by Natsu. That's when I finally came up with a plan to make you kill yourself with your own knowledge. The ultimate psychological torture: learning everything you believed in was a lie!"

Grandeeney finished her tale, and pulled up on her feet from the front of her shirt. Slowly she cocked her gun and held it up to Lucy's forehead, a devilish grin dancing on her lips.

"So what's it going to be?"

.

.

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Warning: character death. Oh wait... to late! HAHAHA!

Oh that reveal! What do y'all think? Did you expect Grandeeney? What did you think of her reasons? LET ME KNOW! Finals start next week so don't expecting from me until late May. See y'all laters!

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	25. Chapter 25

_"So what is it gonna be?"_

Lucy, who had gone into a state of shock, collapsed to her knees on the concrete roof at Grandeeney's feet, shivering and quaking with fear and despair.

"I-it was all you...?" The blond voiced in a quiet, disbelieving tone, keeping her wide brown on the ground.

"I think I already established that, dipshit." Grandeeney grinded her teeth and kneed Lucy in the chin. "Now are you gonna kill yourself or cause everyone else's murders?" She questioned again, when no answer was received she angrily kicked the young girl repeatedly in the stomach. "I. ASKED. YOU. A. QUESTION. BITCH!" She yelled between kicks. Lucy still gave no response except for the occasional grunt of pain. She was too consumed with the the destruction of her life and the realization of the truth to focus on her physical agony.

Everything she believed; her causing her parents deaths; her almost killing Wendy and Grandeeney a year later; her almost causing Natsu to drown two years later; the video; the accidents; the hate; the kidnapping; Wendy's small lifeless body bleeding out right next to her, soaking her clothes in scarlet blood; every she had believed for the past six years of her life. _It was all a lie_.

Lucy suddenly let out a deafening scream of total despair. Grandeeney cursed and kicked Lucy in the mouth.

"Time's up you fucking piece of shit!" She growled darkly, "I will give you ten seconds to jump off that ledge," Grandeeney pointed to the railing, "Or I will kill every motherfucking person you care about, starting with Natsu."

Lucy looked at her in fear from underneath her small, but hard and heavy foot. From the look in the older woman's eyes, she could tell she wasn't lying. Grandeeney lifted her foot from her head and stepped back, Lucy got up from her spot, shaking like a Chihuahua.

"Ten. Nine." The psychopathic woman started her manic countdown.

Lucy turned her back to her and slowly walked to the edge of the building, peering over the grey side of the resort two a six or more story fall of almost certain death. Lucy gulped and stepped over the fence.

"Eight. Seven. Six."

Lucy looked out at the scenery then closed her eyes, giving herself a small time to reflect on her life. What was the reason she had kept on for so long? She had been sure she would only cause pain to those around her, wasn't this what she wanted? Why was she hesitating? Or maybe she had secretly wished for a peaceful life and held on to that thought, hoping one day it would come true. Where somewhere in the future she'd be able to live happily with Natsu by her side, thinking one day they could get married. But the fear that she might kill him secretly brought her to constantly wish for death, so he would be safe.

"Five."

Well the opportunity appeared before her now.

"Four."

All she ever wanted, was for Natsu to be safe and happy.

"Three."

And if it wasn't with her...

"Two."

Then she could die happily knowing that at least he'd live and have a future ahead of him, one she could only kid herself with.

"One."

Lucy looked back at the mountains and the cold winter moon, taking in the last sight she would ever see.

"Zero."

She let go of the railing, falling eight stories down to the ground.

...

Natsu sat alone in his room, looking out the window as the snow slowly fell outside the glass, a blank stare displaying itself on his face. He couldn't get the image of Lucy lying her head on his chest, sighing in perfect content. He so desperately wanted to tell her of his true feelings in that moment, to say that he wan to finally be more than friends. But he hesitated, afraid that she wouldn't feel the same for him, and the possibility of ruining their friendship. He was afraid to lose her, but her wanted to have her. Natsu sighed and and rubbed his tired eyes with his hot hand. Moving to leave the room and go speak with her, he took one final look out the window, at the decorated mountains of snow.

But he was stopped when his eyes connected with Lucy's for a mere split second. Her eyes were full of tears and pain as she looked at him as if she was saying farewell. As soon as she had come, she disappeared from sight. It took a moment to understand what he had just seen, but when the sound of flesh hitting the ground rung through his ears he knew what had just transpired.

Quick as a flash of light, Natsu sped out of his bed room and flung himself downstairs, not even bothering to go to the elevator. Once he reached the lobby he slammed into Erza, who yelled at glared evily at him while Jellal asked if he was okay. Natsu ignored them, paying no attention to either of them, getting back to his feet and running out the door. Turning the the left side of the entryway, Natsu saw her. Lucy's body lying on the cold, snowy ground as crimson blood poured from what seemed to be every area of her body.

"Lucy!" He screamed in terror and ran over to her, kneeling down and carefully turning her over and pulling her gently into his lap.

"Lucy! Please open your eyes!"

Erza and Jellal ran out after him and froze at the sight of the seemingly lifeless Lucy Heartfilia.

"Oh my god." Jellal breathed. More people ran out to she what the commotion was all about. When Levy appeared she screamed in terror and passed out, Mirajane broke out into tears and ran over, while Igneel called 911. Gray and Juvia, who were just coming back from a dinner by themselves, found themselves just as shocked as everyone else. Mira tried to get closer to Lucy, but was pushed back by a very emotional Natsu.

"Don't touch her!" He yelled at Mira.

"Natsu!" Erza shouted at him " Do not take out your anger on the others!"

"Shut the he'll up, Erza!" Natsu roared at her. Everyone was briefly surprised by his outburst then we're snapped back when Erza smacked him across the head.

"You fool! We're all as hurt as you-" The redhead tried but was interrupted by Natsu shoving her back.

"No you're not! None of you are!" Natsu exploded. "You've all barely known her for a couple of months! I've known her since she was seven! None of you could fucking possibly understand my pain!"

Natsu was shut up by Mira slapping him in the face, leaving him temporarily dazed. The ambulance drove up as Natsu stood up again after being knocked down. "We may have not known her for as long as you, but we are _all_ Lucy's friends! We are all suffering right now!"

The paramedics sprinted over to the blond and carefully, but speedily, lifted her body onto a stretcher and moved her over to the vehicle. Natsu broke away from the group to chase after them.

"Wait! Please! Take me with you!" He begged the men.

"Only for immediate relationships kid." One of the men said and turned away.

"She's my fiancee!" Natsu lied, hearing several gasps from his friends but ignored them. The man appeared to believe him fore he motioned for the pinkette to follow him. Natsu hurriedly got in the back with his beloved Lucy as they closed the doors and held on as they turned on the sirens and speed away as fast as possible while still being careful of the icy roads. Natsu paid no attention to the others, though they rushed to their cars to follow after them, and softly arrested her cold hands as one of the men desperately tried to stop the bleeding and another trying to regain a pulse with no such luck.

Natsu held her hand to his head and kissed it, quietly crying and praying that she'd live.

...

From the top of the roof, Grandeeney watched with hatred as the ambulance carrying the little bitch drove away with haste. She had just finished putting Wendy in duffle bag when they had arrived. Grumbling, she left to head to her car, following farther behind so she could dispose of the body before going to make sure the wrench didn't survive. She had been waiting for over fifteen years to get her revenge on the Heartfilia women for taking her darling Jude away from her, she'd be damaged if she failed now. Disposing of the child's body in the nearly frozen river, Grandeeney made her way back to her parked car, heading her way to the closest hospital where they most likely took the slut to.

...

Natsu followed closely as the nurses buzzed around Lucy and pulled her into the ER, putting and oxygen mask on her face and shinning a flashlight into her eyes and checked for a heartbeat.

"She's going into circulatory shock!" A doctor announced as they pulled her into the ER.

"We need to regulate her pulse!" Another announced. Natsu tried to follow in but was stopped when a nurse interfered.

"Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to step back into the waiting room." She informed him.

"No I want to stay!" He argued and shoved her out of the way, the nurse called for security and several men appeared and tried to pull him back, but Natsu kept on fighting them. "I want to stay! I can't leave her!" He shouted and desperately tried to get back in, but all of his attempts proved fruitless as he was forced back into the waiting room.

"LUCY!" Natsu howled. "DON'T YOU DARE DIE ON ME!"

...

From within the emergency room, Lucy felt nothing as the doctors moved all around her. She had no voice, no strength to lift her body. She lied there motionless as the doctors tried to save her life.

If she was being completely honest with herself, Lucy didn't want to be saved. Natsu was alive.

That's all she needed.

Hours seemed to pass in that room. She watched as numerous doctors worked to steady her. When she was finally regulated, they moved on to fix her wounds. She heard them say that she had six broken ribs, a punctured lung, both legs broken, a sprained neck, a severe concussion, and a broken left arm. Battered and clearly broken, her hear in shreds, the blond wanted to quit. But then a voice came to her. Hours of silence and monotonous sounds of the machines were all broken by cries.

First was Levy, who did nothing but cry at her side and beg for Lucy to survive. Next was Mira and Lisanna, the older of which also cried but tried to sound somewhat cheerful, encouraging Lucy that she would pull through. Lisanna sounded nervous and didn't say much, but sniffled and apologized for what she had previously done, also begging for her to live. Erza didn't say much, just told her with a firm voice to get better, but sadness could be heard in her voice as she cursed herself for being useless. Igneel also came in to see her, sobbing softly, calling her his own daughter and saddened by the fact that this happened, but also begging for forgiveness. 'What for?' Lucy wondered.

Lastly Natsu came in, for a long time she heard nothing but quiet sobs and cries and felt felt him slowly caress her hair. After what seemed to be an eternity, he finally spoke up in a cracked and broken voice.

"Lucy, I'm sorry I couldn't protect you. I'm sorry I couldn't save you this time, I guess I really am worthless huh?" He laughed bitterly. "But for all I am, I'm madly in love with you. I want us to get married, to have kids, and to grow old together." He confessed to what he thought were deaf ears. "Please, don't die."

Lucy opened her eyes and looked over at Natsu, trying to worldlessly gain his attention to let her awakening be known. However, Natsu didn't raise his head and kept it hidden on the bed as he cried.

From the corner of the room, Grandeeney walked in, smiling sickeningly sweet as ever, silently walking over to Natsu. She kept her eyes on Lucy as she pulled out a knife and held it above her son. Although she didn't speak, Lucy could read her eyes. Revenge for not dying when she was supposed to. Lucy's eyes widened in horror as she raised her hand up, and plunged it down to his neck.

Lucy willed her broken body to move, even the slightest. 'Move!' She pleaded. 'Move damn it!' She cursed as she remained still. The knife made its way down, closer and closer to Natsu's death. 'MOVE!'.

Lucy moved her right arm.

.

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.

Dun. Dun. DUHHHH!

What's gonna happen?! I know but you don't! HAHAHAHAHAHA!

I'm not crazy, just creative.

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	26. Chapter 26

"AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Lucy screamed as the knife pierced her arm, digging into her skin and cutting her flesh and vain. Her sudden scream turned Natsu around and made him jump up, staring shockingly in horror at the scene of his mother, stabbing his beloved best friend in the arm, where his neck had been only moments before. Grandeeney cursed under her breath and ran over to the door, closing and locking it, then walked back over to Lucy, ignoring Natsu like he wasn't there.

"Mom?" He chocked furrowing his brows, mouth slightly agape, in wretched disgust.

"What is it sweety?" She asked with a light voice, as if she had just been caught giving Christmas cookies to lonely orphans. Grandeeney ripped the knife out of Lucy's arm, with Lucy giving a loud "Ah!" as she did, and turned to face Natsu with a smile, who stood behind her in mixed fear and confusion.

"Mom what are you doing?" He questioned her in a tall whisper, backing away against the wall.

"Nothing sweety, now mommy has some business to finish, why don't you go and play with your friends." Grandeeney told him with a tilted head and innocent grin. Lucy struggled to move on her hospital bed, squirming around like a worm, grunting as she did. Grandeeney grabbed her head and held her down, face first into the cushions.

"But you locked the door." He noted and stared at his mother's hand, crushing Lucy's head. "What are you doing to Lucy." He questioned, pointing to the face down blond. Grandeeney looked where he was pointing, then back at her son with a grin.

"Suffocating her." She answered.

"Well stop it." He yelled and tried to remove her hand from Lucy's head, but stopped when Grandeeney removed her hand, only to wrap them around his neck, strangling him.

"Do you want a turn? It that it?" She asked in her usual sickly sweet voice.

"Mom...stop it..." He gasped and struggled to push her off, but to no avail. Pounding sounded from the other side of the door, as what looked like a nurse tried to get in with no success, but this went ignored from the bodies inside the room.

"It's not just her fault." The bluenette woman muttered, her head facing towards the white, tiled floor, then whipped up to face him, wearing a mad expression. "If you weren't born, then maybe I could have convinced him... I could have had him. HE WOULD HAVE BEEN MINE!" She screamed in anger and raised the knife up, bringing it down on Natsu, slicing the width of his arm as he held them out to protect himself.

"Ahh, mom! What are you doing?" Natsu begged, tripping over his feet, and falling on his butt.

Grandeeney pulled out a 9 inch pistol from the inside pocket of her winter coat and shoved it in his face.

"Doing what I should have done seventeen years ago!" She roared and cocked the gun.

"NO!" Lucy shouted and hopped on Grandeeney's back, causing her to miss and shoot the wall. Lucy fought with the bluenette over the gun in her hands, causing bullets to fly and fire up the room, shattering vases and equipment. Finally Lucy got a hold of the gun and through it out the window, breaking the glass. Grandeeney managed to throw Lucy off her back, sending her flying into the wall, causing Lucy to let out another wail of pain. Meanwhile, security started to ram into the door to try and bust it open.

"That was the dumbest thing you could've done." Grandeeney laughed and wavered on her feet, stumbling as she made her way over to the the blond's body. "Guess you forgot I'm still armed-" She reached into her pocket, but froze when she realized that her knife was missing.

"Looking for this?" Natsu called out behind her from his spot on the ground. Grandeeney twisted around to see her son holding her silver butterfly knife in his hand.

"Now what hero?" She giggled venomously and turned to face him, leaning on one side due to an apparent limp on her right foot.

The pounding in the door continued.

"Are you gonna stab your mother?" She charged, motioning to the knife in his hand. "Are you going to kill the woman who brought you life? Huh?"

Natsu said nothing and sat frozen still, not knowing what to do.

The pounding of security got louder.

"Well? Do it... Come on. Do it!... DO IT! DON'T TELL ME I GAVE BIRTH TO A COWARD!" She screamed at him, strange tears running down her face in cascading waterfalls. "DO IT YOU FUCKING BAS- awk! gak!"

Just then the door finally burst open and three security guards, a doctor, and nurse came bustling into the room, stopping when they saw the wrecked room, and the scene before them.

Lucy sat on her knees behind Grandeeney, blood running down her right arm, her limbs bent awkwardly as if in an attempt to accommodate for them, one of her casts cracked open, revealing her hideously scarred and bruised leg, and her hands holding a long shard of glass through Grandeeney's stomach. No edges in her face gave off any emotion, her eyes dull and dead, yet she was crying. Grandeeney was just emotionless, seemingly unaffected from pain in her stomach as blood ran out from her mouth. Natsu, who was breathing heavily and shaking, let the knife drop from his hands and clatter on the floor.

"You know I hate you, right?" Grandeeney breathed, closing her eyes. "I really do."

"Yes I know, but I don't hate you." Lucy said and let go of the glass, moving her hands to lay the older woman down. "It may take me a while... but I'm sure I can forgive you." Lucy ran her fingers through her blue hair repeatedly, as a way to calm herself down. Grandeeney allowed herself to smile ever so slightly, resting her head on Lucy's lap.

"You truly are your parents' daughter."

...

After the hospital episode, Lucy was sent back into emergency care to stop the bleeding of her cut vain, as well as to repatch her wounds and casts. Going into yet another surgery, it was found that Lucy had gained a minor concussion, probably from when Grandeeney slammed her against the wall. Grandeeney was also sent to emergency care to treat her stomach wound and have the glass from her stomach and back extracted.

When the news was broke to all the members of the party by Natsu, almost no one believed it at first, thinking Natsu was joking, but realized it was true when they saw the state Natsu was in. Natsu had become a nervous wreck, stuttering and shaking constantly, not being able to make eye contact with anyone, he spent most of his time either sitting by Lucy's sleeping body, or in his room under the sheets. He would only come to see her when she was asleep, not yet able to face her when she was awake, feeling like a complete loser for acting the way he did, but who could blame him? Natsu had just witness his mother try to kill his best friend, threaten to kill him, and watched as she was stabbed by his best friend, all in about seven minutes.

The police came in a few hours later and put Grandeeney on lock down in her room, not letting anyone in besides the doctors, nurses, and intimate family, though they doubted anyone would want to see her. She was strapped to her bed to keep her from running away or from hurting anybody else. However, not an inch of movement was made by her, lying completely still as if she was asleep, but with her eyes open. She had had no visitors but one, Igneel, who came in three days later. Igneel stood on the right size of the bed, looking out the window at the new sunrise. When he had come in, Grandeeney's eyes had widened ever so slightly, surprised that he would bother with her, but he didn't even spare her a glance, and headed straight for the window.

"What are you doing here Igneel?" Grandeeney questioned, eyes still on the ceiling. Igneel didn't answer right away, but held his breath for a few moments while he gazed at the sun.

"I knew this day would come." He murmured.

"That doesn't answer my question." She stated, turning her head to look at his fiery complexion as the light surrounded him. Her false husband didn't respond, still not looking her way, hands in his pockets and standing tall. Grandeeney sighed, she new the idiot to well, he was faking a calm demeanor to avoid breaking down in front of her.

"What's my sentence?" She asked.

"Still undecided, our son has given his testimony as well as Lucy, yet she pleads for your freedom from jail. Despite that, the police have found your connection to a large amount of gang wars, abduction, mass murder, attempted murder, human trafficking, drug dealing, and psychological torture. They have a good amount of evidence to move on with your sentence. As it is, your looking at the death penalty."

Grandeeney chuckled bitterly, "So I guess my past crimes have finally caught up with me. My time's up-" Out of nowhere, Igneel spun around and slapped his wife in the face.

"Shut up! Have you given up already? Don't you value your own life?!" He questioned in a broken voice, allowing tears to finally flow down his face.

"No I don't, not for the past seventeen years." Grandeeney whispered.

"But I do! Surely you can plead insane?! You'll be sent back to the hospital! You won't have to-!"

"Igneel." Grandeeney said sternly with a serious look. "I'm not going back there, I've brought this on myself and will face it."

"B-b-but I-I, y-you..." Igneel trailed off, not knowing what to say, and laid his head by her side, sobbing into her arm.

"You know I never loved you, right?" She murmured, running her fingers through his hair gently. "But you were the only one who ever loved me."

"It was enough, but don't blame Lucy or our son for the past." Igneel raised his head and grabbed her hand, which was still bound. "It's my fault for telling Jude not to go after you because I loved you." Grandeeney's eyes grew larger, almost the size of dinner plates. "I'm the one who impregnated you, left you in that hospital, and took our son away."

"But I killed our daughter. Killed many others, and tortured them for fun." She challenged.

"Yes. And I hate you for that, for the woman you've become." His voice went deeper and tightened his grip on her hand to where it hurt. "But for my sake, when you see Wendy again, apologize and raise her for me."

Grandeeney closed her eyes to stop her from crying, but it didn't stop them. "Damn, stop making me regret my actions already, that's the one thing you've always made me do and I hate it." She cursed at him and tried to hit him, jiggling around in her cuffs.

"Igneel. I buried our daughter on the northwest side of the river by the bridge. There is a wooden cross sticking out of the ground next to a dirt mound with snowdrops on top." She maneuvered her hand to hold his. "As much as I wanted to, I couldn't bring myself to throw her in the river."

Igneel cupped both his hands around her right hand, giving it a small kiss. "Thank you."

"Does this mean I'm bipolar to?" She laughed.

"No it doesn't." Igneel smiled and kissed her forehead. "You're just showing your true colors."

Grandeeney let out a content breath. "Maybe I did love you."

...

After he left from his visitation with his wife, he set out to find Lucy's room just down the hall. Walking in he saw Lucy reading, with Natsu sitting on the edge of the bed, looking at the floor. When the door closed behind him, Natsu stood and looked his way, while Lucy closed her book and greeted him.

"Morning, Igneel." She smiled.

"Good morning, Lucy." He greeted back.

"What are you doing here dad?" Natsu questioned. Igneel huffed partly at this, like father like son he guessed. Then a melancholy air of emotion swept him, remembering what he had come here for.

"I'm sorry about everything." Igneel said. "I knew about Grandeeney, but I didn't stop her."

"You _what?_ " Natsu growled. "You knew my mother was crazy?!"

"Natsu."

"And you didn't stop her?!"

" **Natsu**." Lucy said firmly then turned back to Igneel, motioning for him to continue. Igneel explained his past with Grandeeney and why he felt responsible, as well as his lack of action due to a foolish hope that the teenager he once knew would resurface.

"I was a fool. I thought by doing nothing, it would some how change her. I brought her back into your life, because I thought she would remember the friendship she once had with Layla. But I was only kidding myself, now I've dragged so many down with me."

"You're right you are an idiot." Lucy stated, Igneel looked up at her shocked. "But not for the reasons that you think. The blame belongs to no one because it belongs to everyone. I'm guilty for letting myself believe in my own misfortune and letting it dictate my life. But what is important now is that we move on." Lucy smiled and started to get emotional, crying for the remorse that she held in her soul.

...

Three months later the trial was carried out and Grandeeney was sentenced to death by injection. Ninety days later again, her sentence was carried out. Around that time, a proper funeral was held for the youngest Dragneel.

...

Grandeeney opened her eyes to a vast field, never ending on all sides, and a large blue sky above her with a bright orange sun. "Mama!" A voice called out, carried by the wind. Grandeeney looked behind her to see her daughter, Wendy, standing on the hill behind her.

"Wendy?" She gasped in disbelief and smiled, running over to her and collapsing on her knees in front of her, grabbing the small girl into a large hug and cried uncontrollably. "Oh Wendy! I'm so sorry! It's my fault your here! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" She cried and buried her face in her blue hair.

"It's okay mama, I'm fine now. Aunty Layla and Uncle Jude are here as well." Wendy murmured and lifted her mother's face. From behind walked in two faces from her past, whom she thought she would never see again.

"Hi Deeney!" Layla smiled at her.

"It's been a long time." Said Jude.

Grandeeney sat on the ground in shock, staring wide eyed at the two phantoms. "I-it's you."

"Deeney, I'm sorry for what I did. I was helping Igneel by setting you up on a date, but I guess I was wrong-"

"NO! Don't you _dare_ apologize!" Grandeeney sobbed. "The blame is soley mine! I killed you and tortured your daughter! Killed my own daughter! I DON'T DESERVE THIS!"

"Deeney." Layla said softly and keeled before her. "It's time to let go, follow us."

"But I don't deserve it." Grandeeney muttered. Layla took her best friend's hand and helped her up.

"And that's why you'll spend the rest of your time paying it off by doing good." She told her with a hug. Taking her hand, she pulled her ahead to a path of light that formed as they went. "Come now, to your redemption."

.

.

.

Well, was that okay. At first I didn't want her to die but then I didn't want her to be in the hospital nor jail. But then I didn't want to just kill her, I hope I gave more light to her character. If I'm counting right, we have three chapters left. Holy sh*t this is almost over I just realized that. What?! This is my longest last story ever! And honestly didn't think I would get this far. Well stay tuned for the upcoming finale!

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	27. Chapter 27

Lucy spent several weeks in the hospital due to her bad health, seven in fact, but she had been transferred two another hospital closer to home in the beginning. When she had been released she had been sent to physical therapy to build up her strength once again after breaking several bones, but something came as a shock to her. Her two legs had been much worse of than anyone had originally thought and her little episode to save Natsu's life had caused them to worsen significantly and her legs didn't heal properly, so she was stuck in a wheelchair until the doctors found a way to fix them, which may take quite a while.

Natsu had collapsed on her hospital bed when he was told the news, crying for forgiveness from Lucy, claiming it was all his fault.

"It's not your fault Natsu," she comforted him, "I brought this on myself when I stood up on my broken legs to save you, and I don't regret my decision."

"B-but you may ne-never walk again!" He cried out, hiding his face from her. "If I had been more aware this would never have happened!"

"If I hadn't done what I did you would be dead, then everything I have ever done for the past seven years would have been for nothing. Protecting you is what I want most in the world." She told him, lifting his head up and gazing into his obsidian irises and resting her forehead against his. "I don't ever want to be away from you, and I will protect you no matter the cost." She promised him and wrapped her arms around him in a hug. Lucy so desperately wanted to say 'I love you', but could not find the courage to do so, so said, "So don't feel guilty okay?" instead.

"I can't promise that." He wheezed out an answer.

However she could not protect herself from what came next.

The media and the news exploded after the Grandeeney incident, dozens of news reports were done on the attempted murder of Lucy Heartfilia and Natsu Dragneel, and the unfortunate death of Wendy Dragneel, as well as the death of the illusive gangster and murder Grandeeney Dragneel. Strangers all over the internet called the woman a monster for murdering her own child and hate mail swelled the internet while others sent condolences to the family, but some sent hate directly to the family blaming them for misfortune fallen upon them by the works of Grandeeney.

Even though the truth about Lucy being a 'black cat' was cleared the students at her school still treated her badly for being the center of media for several months. The school counselor suggested that she be sent to therapy, which she agreed to do. From January up unto graduation, Lucy spent a single Wednesday afternoon every two weeks in therapy to cope with everything around her. While Lucy didn't think anything was wrong with her, Igneel also suggested she go, saying she had been enduring it alone for too long. And he was right, she had suffered the death of her parents and her own self hatred for years, only opening occasionally to Natsu and not to anyone else, tending to stick away from crowds because of paranoia, which she still did sometimes as a reflex. And it had become worse when she saw Wendy killed right before her very own eyes then forced to commit suicide before almost being murdered.

The doctor had deducted that she had a mild form of Post traumatic stress disorder as Lucy could no longer be anywhere high up or be around guns or blood without getting flashbacks and panic attacks of that night. At school, some tried to take advantage of this to tease her, but since she had to be pushed around on her wheelchair, they could never do it for long. Levy had been designated her aid because of their similar schedule, Natsu couldn't because he couldn't take her to the bathroom, locker room, and their schedule was almost completely polar. Natsu was severely angered by this but did say to much aloud, just grumbled, pouted, and watched *cough* 'stalked' her to make sure she was safe wherever she went.

Mira and Erza were the most protective of her besides Natsu and Levy, they acted almost as personal guards for her as protection from threats, often accompanying Levy as she pushed Lucy around.

"Do you miss them?" Levy one day asked Lucy as they sat on the side of the field in PE, her in her wheelchair and Levy on the bench, taking a brake from running the mile.

"Miss what?" Lucy played ignorant hoping Levy would drop the subject. Thankfully she did because she gave a quiet "never mind" and changed the subject.

Lucy looked down at her legs and twitched her toes, which caused slight pain throughout her entire lower body. The ability to move was still there, but the ability to walk was just out of her reach. While Levy was talking about something else, Lucy was lost somewhere in her mind. The doctors still didn't know entirely what was wrong with her legs and were even further from finding a way to fix them. Months had passed and they finally told her to give up hope when she was so close from regaining her legs. It was like a constant reminder of what she would never have back again.

Later that day, when Lucy was waiting for Levy to gather all her books outside the library so she can help her home, she watched as students ran across the field practicing soccer and baseball, while others walked home on their own to feet and some riding home on skateboards and bicycles. Lucy felt a longing to be like them again, sure she never played a sport but she used to at least be able to run across a field, she'd be out of breath, but she'd be able to _do_ it.

Grabbing onto both arms of her chair, Lucy took a deep breath before using all of her strength to heave herself up and on onto her own two feet. Lucy tried to push away from her chair and attempted a single step, but crumble the moment her foot hit the ground and fell over onto the cold tiled floor with an "umph!". Lucy rubbed her head and reached out back for her chair with difficulty, pulling herself across the floor and took a hold of the side of her wheelchair, but when she tried to pull herself up it fell over its side and left her crippled down on the floor.

As if her not actually being bad luck was a ploy, Minerva and Angel came walking down the hall and saw her struggling and crying on the ground.

"Woah, Minerva look at that, little miss legless is stuck without her wheelchair!" Angel laughed and pointed at her. Lucy tried even harder to get back to her chair.

"Look at her squirm!" Minerva howled in laughter.

"Hey! Stop right there!" Levy yelled at the two girls as she ran out of the library, Gajeel trailing behind her. The two girls turned away with a tsk and strided away still laughing.

"Lucy what were you thinking?!" Levy questioned her in panic and quickly ran up to help her sit back down in her chair. "You know you can't..." Levy stopped talking when she saw Lucy crying and hiding her face.

"Let's get you back to Natsu."

Lucy tried not to cry in front of anyone, but when Natsu ran up to her in concern she fell apart and sobbed hysterically in his arms as he hushed her and held her. The realization had hit her harder than she expected, but Natsu comforted her with gentle words.

"Your legs may he gone, but you are still here. Things will be different but you find that a reward _will_ be found in this hardship." Natsu wiped her tears and kissed her head before hugging her again, letting her cry in his shoulder.

...

Lucy had been more than once called out from class, but no one really questioned her about it so she got off scott free. She was sent into question large series of tests and weekly curriculums. She'd be pulled out so often she'd miss a class for a week straight sometimes, but most, including her friends, thought it was just her meeting with her doctor or therapist.

The school year ticked by faster than she would have expected and before she knew it she was three days from graduation with a heavy decision on her mind.

Lucy tried to mask herself as usual with a smile, but now that everyone knew about the mask they never believed her when she said she was okay. Lucy now lived with Natsu and Igneel, moving out of her old apartment and into the guest bedroom she stayed in before, where she was currently playing Nature Call Online with Natsu.

 **Congratulations You've Reached Level 40 Fox Tribe**

 **New availabilities: High Iron Fox Armor**

 **Challenge Tribe Alpha**

 **Mates & Family Pack**

 **Moose Hunting**

 **Zodiac12: Yes! Finally reached level 40!**

 **Fire Dragon: Congratulations, try to reach my level newbie ;)**

Lucy rolled her eyes at the screen. Natsu had long since passed level forty and was at level fifty-three and had been bragging about it forever, calling her a noob even though she's the one who originally found this game in the store. Said bragger was currently in his own room as it was now past three on a weekday. Usually she would not think of staying up this late on a school night, but she no longer had to worry about for reasons she had kept from everyone, no one knew as she told no one yet, wanting to spend the remainder of the school year with everything was normal.

A little beep from her controller told her that she had received a letter on the screen.

 **Request From Fire Dragon To Become Mates.**

 **\- Yes**

 **\- No**

 **Zodiac12: Um Natsu, what is up with your request?**

 **Fire Dragon: I want us to become mates**

 **Fire Dragon: We've lived together for a while and have known each other for even longer**

Lucy stared in blank shock at his blunt clarification. What was that supposed to mean? Does he just mean in the game just for kk and level bonuses, or did he mean outside the game?

 **Zodiac12: What do you mean by that?** Lucy typed and waited for a response. Several minutes passed with no answer and caused Lucy to grow worried and nervous, so nervous that she nearly fell out of bed when a knock came from the door. A second later, Natsu walked in with an infinitive blush on his face not saying a word as he walked over and sat on the edge of her bed, the light of her tv illuminating his face. Natsu diverted his eyes from her and took her smaller hands in his own.

"Lucy, this next week I'll be turning eighteen and I'll be a senior, and even though you'll be sixteen in four months, we'll be seniors together, graduate together, and... I'd like for us to take on the world together." He spoke in a loud but hushed whisper all the while as he stared at their cupped hands. Lucy looked at him with a mixture of both horror and joy, afraid and yet happy for what he might ask next. Letting go of Lucy's hand and settling himself on one knee, Natsu pulled out a small sliver band, no stone, nothing special, but everything she has ever wanted.

"Lucy Heartfilia, I know we've technically never dated but I've been wanting to do this for so long. I've loved you for years upon years and I never want to be apart from you, I want to be the one to protect you and keep you safe, from the future, and from the past. Lucy, will you marry me?"

Lucy felt a stream of both joyful and remorseful tears cascade from her eyes and down her cheeks, falling down and staining her blanket with black, wet spots. This is the one thing she had always dreamed of, but the one thing's she had always dreaded.

"I-I.. c-can't." She chocked.

Natsu stared back at her in shock."You...can't?" He repeated. "Why?"

"I-I'm leaving." She answered and reached over to her nightstand, pulling a letter from her drawer and handing it to him, turning on her lamp. "I got into Edolas."

Natsu took the letter hesitantly and opened it slowly, reading carefully, then slamming the paper down, most likely not even making it through the whole letter.

" _Edolas University_? I thought I told you not to go!" He nearly yelled at her, trying to keep his voice low due to the late/early hour.

"I just wanted to try out! I didn't think I'd get in!" She gulped looking away. "But, while I was in the hospital, I received a letter that I had scored the highest and would be accepted in immediately and it wasn't necessary for me to graduate, but due to my injuries I could leave right away and decided to finish the year here in Magnolia. My therapist thinks it'd be best if I left the area in order to move on, I was going to tell you when we graduated."

"So you _knew_ that you'd leave me alone and didn't bother to speak a _word_?" He accused with a hurt expression.

"I was going to tell you, I just didn't know how. Please try and understand, this is a great opportunity for me." Lucy said a little shaken from the rising tense atmosphere of her room.

"But why didn't you tell me? I could have made plans to move with you! I'd go anywhere for you!" He declared as he took her hands again.

Lucy ripped her hands away and tried to scoot away. "It's best if you don't, you have more of a life here than I do, don't give it up for someone like me." She begged.

"'Someone like you'? You amazing Lucy! Your smart, beautiful, selfless, forgiving, and caring! I couldn't ever ask for another girl when I have you in my life. This town has nothing for me if your gone. I'll visit my dad and my friends, but I could never be away from you for more than a day! Please Lucy, let me come with you!"

Lucy felt her heart crumble with a rough cornerstone splitting two hard decisions, she feels selfish taking him away from everyone who loves him and who may come to love him, but she also can't imagine life without him.

"But... how could I ever be a good wife if I'm like this?" She cried. "I can't walk, I'm mentally unstable and will only cause you trouble in the end. My scared body will never be beautiful, it'll only look like a giant wound." Lucy sobbed into her hands.

Natsu's expression softened when he saw her cry and his heart melted for her, wrapping an arm around her he pulled her into his lap.

"When you can't walk, I'll help you with every step. When you have a breakdown, I'll hold you until you feel safe again. When you think your scarred, I'll call you beautiful every hour of the day until you believe it." Natsu took Lucy's left hand and slid the cheep metal ring onto her finger and lifted her chin up with a finger to gaze softly into her brown eyes. "I'm deeply in love with you, and I'll do anything for you, and I know you'll do anything for me. Now tell me, what else could I want?" He asked in a kind voice.

"An answer?" She guessed with a small chuckle.

"Well that'd be a start." He winked. Lucy giggled and leaned her forehead against his with a sad smile on her face, tears still falling, but this time out of rejoice.

"...Yes."

Lucy had lived through seven years of torture and suffering, and may never fully recover from what she has lived through. Her legs were a constant reminder and nightmares frequently haunted her at night and left her shaking from memories.

But now she had Natsu as her future husband and he would help her heal, he would mend her back together again, no matter how long it took.

.

.

.

Next chapter will be an epilogue. I'm sorry about further damaging Lucy, but it will bring a stronger message in the epilogue.

Yada yada see you for the final final chapter next time!

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	28. Chapter 28

_Blood flowed around all around her body, seeping into the strange metal room through cracks in the walls and ceiling, and began to flood the room higher and higher and she drowned. Suddenly the floor fell away, the blood disappeared and she fell down from the clouds and to the ground. She saw her parents standing on a cloud watching her fall with disappointment and disdain. Lucy then crashed onto the ground that turned into sand, and she sunk down into I and fell down into a cavern, which opened up into a snowy world. She floated slowly to the ground and laid her bare feet down on the stone floor and wandered around. Stars shined on the cave ceiling, giving light to the strange world._

 _Suddenly a voice called out to her, Lucy turned around and saw Wendy running for her, screaming something that she could not hear. Suddenly a bullet flew through the air and pierced her stomach. Lucy looked down at the black red blood poured out from the wound. Lucy looked up and saw Wendy standing above her with a gun in her hand. From behind her, Grandeeney walked up with a pistol gripped tightly in her hands. They both lifted them up and pulled the triggers, from which powerful winds blew out and lifted her high into the sky as a tornado formed, sending her flying back out of the cave and into the sky, landing her back in the metal room, where the floor was there once more._

 _A light peered in and Lucy looked at an open door, where Natsu stood dressed in white._

 _"...Lucy...Don't give in, okay..." His voice murmured before he turned away and walked out. She called after him as the door closed and the room filled with piercing bright light._

"Natsu!" Lucy screamed as she jerked awake. Her eyes were momentarily blinded by the sunlight that shined from the window, but quickly recovered and frantically searched for her husband. When she noticed that he was nowhere in sight, she became panicked and screamed out for him once again. "Natsu!"

The sound of footsteps vibrated through their small home as Natsu came running with swift speed into their room, an apron clad around his waist. When he saw the state of his wife he ran over and enveloped her in his arms and rocked her back and forth, whispering soft and soothing words.

When she finally relaxed, she realized it was all a dream once again. Nightmares had come to haunt her regularly after the incident, almost every single night she'd experience them. But as the years passed they began to dwindle and had become rare, but still present, appearing every so often as if they were some sort of reminder never to forget.

Lucy desperately wanted to forgive and leave it all in the past, but it was a small part of her that could never forgive the woman that destroyed her, so she never forget.

"Natsu? Am I a bad person for not forgiving her?" She wondered aloud.

Natsu knew exactly who _her_ was, and immediately he felt angered at the mention of the horrid woman he once called his mother. Natsu clearly never forgave her for all her lies and torment, but he knew how much his wife wanted to but could not manage.

"No." He answered simply as he held her close to his chest.

The two laid there together for a few minutes until her alarm went off, signifying that she had to get ready for work. Natsu helped her sit up and helped her change out of her pajamas and into her work clothes, a white blouse and blue jacket with a black skirt. When she was dressed, Natsu picked her up and carried her down stairs setting her down in the wheelchair that sat at the bottom of the staircase wait for her as its only passenger. Lucy took over and wheeled herself into the kitchen, where breakfast was already prepared and on the table, and her daughter sat at the table, hungrily munching on some egg and toast. When Lucy walked in she looked up and gave her a bright smile with food filled cheeks.

"Morning mommy, did you have another nightmare?" She asked innocently.

Their daughter had been made aware that her mother sometimes suffered panic attacks and nightmares, but was never told the reason why and didn't question it, but did her best to help when she witnessed them.

"Yes, but I'm fine now." Lucy answered and pushed herself up and onto one of the dinning chairs.

"That's good, I don't like it when you're scared." The four year old told her.

Lucy smiled at her daughter and began to eat, thanking Natsu for cooking breakfast. The family at together and talked for thirty minutes before the clock struck seven, signaling that it was time to leave. The family put away their plates and left the house for the car.

Natsu and Lucy had been married for five years and now lived in the capital city of Crocus out on the outskirts of town. Natsu had become a child services officer as he had gained experience on helping children going through tough times when he helped Lucy when they were young. Lucy had become an astrophysicist professor at the University of Crocus, where their daughter, Nashi, went to daycare as she was to young to go to school yet. Lucy and Nashi would then catch the bus home and wait until Natsu arrived from work before they all had dinner together, then went about their business. However tonight would be a bit different as she had a doctors appointment after her lessons at 4:30.

"Take care you two, I'll see you at the hospital." Natsu bid them farewell at the front of the school, giving Lucy a kiss on her forehead.

"Bye bye daddy!" Nashi said and hugged his leg. Natsu pulled her up and swung her through the air.

"Goodbye my little ember." He said back and set her down. The two parents watched as she ran over to the group of children playing in the field outside the daycare room.

"You will be there, right?" Lucy confirmed.

"I'll try my best." Natsu answered and kissed her lips but he could see the worry in her eyes. "Hey don't worry, the results will come back positive, I'm sure of it." He comforted the blonde.

"Okay." She whispered and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, resting her head in the crevice of his neck. Natsu held her back just as tightly, because the words the doctor would speak would either destroy all hope, or reinforce it.

"See you." She murmured, turning around.

"See you, Lucy." He whispered.

...

"The parsec corresponds to the distance at which the mean radius of the earth's orbit subtends an angle of one second of arc. This equals the measurement in distance of-"

The monotonous ring of the class bell interrupted the Lecture Lucy was giving on how to measure distance in space and caused for her students to begin to stand up. "Ah- did I dismiss you yet?" Lucy called out. The students groaned in annoyance and sat back in their seats.

"Homework tonight is two read chapter 17.5 through 17.9, and I expect some note taking! You can all go now."

Some of the students cheered and continued to pack up to leave. While Lucy wasn't a mean teacher, she did prefer her student to actually listen until she was done talking. Very few of her students knew of why she could not walk, and none knew the whole story, but many knew of her mental problems with PTSD, while most of them still respected her, she'd still find that there where ignorant dull headed children that found it funny to make fun of one's suffering.

Last year a student was expelled for putting a replica pistol in her desk drawer, causing Lucy to go into a panic attack and fall out of her wheelchair and scream. After that not too many made fun out of fear of expulsion, but their were still the rare jokester that happened upon her way.

"Professor Dragneel." A student walked up to her desk. "I was wondering if you would write me a letter of recommendation for a internship?"

"Of course Yukino, and which internship are you interested in?"

"The Saber Tooth Extraterrestrial Research Organization." She provided.

"Okay, I'll have it done by Thursday." Lucy smiled.

"Thank you professor." Yukino thanked her as she left.

"Your welcome, Yukino." She waved.

Lucy breathed out and gathered her things in her briefcase, then rolled herself down the ramp and out the door, locking it and making her way for the daycare center. Now that her final class was done, it was time to go to her appointment.

Lucy picked up her daughter, bid goodbye to the helpers, then made her way to the bus stop as she could not drive in her condition. When the bus arrived the diver lowered it down and helped her inside, lifting up some of the seats to make way for her so she wouldn't have to sit in the walk way.

"Momma where are we going?" Nashi asked when she noticed they were heading in the opposite way of their home.

"To the hospital, darling."

"Why?"

"To fix mommy's legs." She replied.

"Why don't they work?" Nashi asked for the first time. Lucy looked around nervously not knowing how to answer her and saw they she was receiving several looks from the other passengers.

"I'll tell you about it when you're older." She answered

...

"Dragneel." The nurse called from the metal white door. Lucy looked nervously at Natsu and rolled forward, followed by Natsu carrying a sleeping Nashi. The nurse lead them to the back and into a room on the left side. She took some blood and checked her heartbeat and blood pressure before leaving.

Lucy sat nervously and watched her legs as she awaited for the news from tests and the doctors personal opinion on the next step. After waiting almost twenty minutes a middle-aged man with greying hair wearing a lab coat walked in.

"Good afternoon, Mrs. Dragneel." He greeted.

"Afternoon doctor." She greeted back. "How does it look?"

"Well for starters we've finally located the problem. Pieces of broken bone have been pushing against the vains in the upper thigh area of your left leg, and the lower section by your knee on your right leg. Subsequently your legs have been losing both oxygen and blood and that's why they have become too weak to support your body. They are small and have been hiding behind your femur for a long while. Good news is that once we can directly locate them, we should be able to remove them and restore your blood flow. It will take a couple weeks for you regain strength in your legs, but you _will_ be able walk again."

Lucy cried tears of joy and held onto her husband, who cried along with her. The doctor smiled and left them alone to rejoice with each other.

The two shed tears uncontrollably without a care, as a darkness that had taken a root in their lives with pain and constant reminders of the past would finally be gone and allow them to at last move forward and look to the future.

And no longer glance back at the past.

.

.

.

It's called being realistic. Do you think you can witness murder without having nightmares? Besides, this was always meant to end bittersweetly.

And to those of you who complained about Grandeeney receiving the opportunity of redemption, fuck off, it's my story and I have a firm belief that everyone is worthy of being forgiven.

Thank you all truly for taken the time to read each chapter over these two years. I'm so happy you all stayed with me, even when it became dark. This is the best story I've ever written with the most follows. Thank you all for helping me get here.

I officially have no other NaLu stories in writing as I bad just finished my other one. I'll have a knew one in august, if any of you have ideas, pleas pm me!

Goodbye and thank you all!

Favorite, Follow, Review~


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